A planned policy by the Ugandan Ministry of Health to stop sponsoring recently graduated intern doctors has sparked widespread unrest among medical students, supported by a wide range of healthcare professionals.
The policy, set to take effect once it has been formally endorsed by Parliament, would require intern doctors to fund their own training, sparking fears that many will be unable to afford the costs.
“This is a recipe for disaster,” said Dr Herbert Luswata, president of the Uganda Medical Association (UMA). Speaking to University World News, he said: “Many of our young doctors come from poor backgrounds and cannot afford to fund their own training.”
He said the interns are bitter because they do about 60% of the medical work in government-run public hospitals, yet that government wants to stop paying them allowances.
Protests
The proposed policy has sparked several protests recently, with medical students and intern doctors chanting slogans and waving placards. They were joined by students from Ugandan high schools who aspire to become medical doctors. In July and August, interns also went on strike over delays in allowance payments.
“We are not asking for much,” said a medical intern, John Okello, from Gulu University in northern Uganda. “We just want the government to continue sponsoring our training so that we can serve our country.”
Annet Namugga, a science-focused student at Kampala High School, said: “All along, I have been studying hard so that I can be admitted by a university to study medicine, but the way interns are being treated is discouraging (me) to continue (pursuing) that ambition.”
Discontent over policy
Health ministry officials have defended the proposed policy, saying it is necessary to reduce the government’s current financial burden. According to the International Monetary Fund, Uganda’s public debt in 2023 amounted to 52% of the national GDP.
However, some critics have warned the policy would have damaging consequences, including a shortage of doctors in rural areas and a decline in the quality of healthcare.
“The government should prioritise the training of our young doctors,” said Dr Jacob Ntende, a consultant ophthalmologist at Mulago Hospital, Kampala. “This policy is a step in the wrong direction.”
Government ‘broke’
The government has been arguing that it does not have enough money to fund all internships, because universities have been increasing the number of medical students they graduate. Its Finance Ministry has said this increase has impeded its ability to do financial planning.
Just 15 years ago, the country’s oldest higher education institution, Makerere University, was the main source of trainee doctors in the country, with the government able to afford to fund internships. But now there are more than 10 universities producing about 2 500 medical doctors each year.
Opposition MPs, like shadow Minister of Health Timothy Batuwa, have, nonetheless, opposed the proposed policy, saying it was not only unfair, but it risks undermining the integrity of young doctors, who might ask for bribes from patients for quality care, he warned.
Research last year concluded that Uganda currently has just 9 600 doctors, with only 42% of the population having reasonable access to doctors.
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