Addressing Health Issues in Uganda

Imagine if, when you needed to go to the hospital to receive medical care, you had to travel 300 kilometers only to find the facility crowded, wait times long, and equipment unavailable to address your needs. The doctors at your facility have been working for twelve hours with no breaks and they do not know when their next paycheck will arrive. This is the reality in Uganda, which has been facing a public health crisis for years. Although universal health coverage was established in 2001, the promises made by the Ugandan government are rarely fulfilled, leaving many people with health issues in Uganda without the care they need. 

Health issues in Uganda range from an increasing spread of HIV and other preventable diseases. The country’s healthcare workers have the ability to educate and treat these conditions, but they do not always have the resources to carry out their training.

Fortunately, the calls to step up are being answered by organizations like Girl Power USA. Our organization aims to support Ugandan healthcare workers and encourage them to stay within the country to provide services to people in need. Seeing as a majority of health funding in the country comes from donors, this continued support is crucial to addressing health issues in Uganda and increasing the quality of care given to its citizens.

There is a long road ahead, but we have hope that Uganda can restore its reputation for having a top healthcare system in the region.

Lack of Access to Healthcare Workers and Facilities

Uganda’s population of over 47.25 million people has access to a staggeringly low number of healthcare facilities and hospitals. In 2018, only five national referral hospitals existed in the nation, with an additional thirteen regional referral hospitals and 163 general or district hospitals. The country only has one doctor for every 25,000 people, when the World Health Organization’s recommendation is to have one doctor for every 1,000. Less than two dozen of the country’s doctors are emergency physicians. Health issues in Uganda could be more easily alleviated simply by employing and supporting more healthcare professionals.

Kauthar Wangi, a medical student in Uganda, described the horrors of Uganda’s lack of resources to our team: “It has hence become the norm to transport patients with critical conditions over 300 kilometers, just to get them to the capital. This is where the best healthcare is available. In the stress of transportation during their medical condition, some patients do not make it alive.” 

Once at the facility, patients will find that the equipment they need to receive proper treatment may already be in use or not exist at all. Equipment in demand includes:

• Record management equipment and systems
• Ultrasound
• Electrocardiographs
• Obstetric dopplers
• Pulse oximeters
• Ventilators
• Cardiac echo machines
• Treadmill stress machines
• Lab equipment (including equipment needed for microbiology, hematology, chemistry, and histopathology).

EKG machines, for example, are not even present in the country’s best hospital. Without staff or equipment, health issues in Uganda may be ignored or treatment may only be available when it is too late. 

Lack of Support For Healthcare Workers

Uganda leads East Africa in the number of medical students who graduate each year. But these students often don’t set their sights on working in their home country. Uganda’s lack of support for healthcare workers discourages them from working in their country. Healthcare workers and medical interns who have stayed at home have gone on strike multiple times after being refused pay by the Ministry of Health. 

Intern doctors and qualified doctors who are training to become specialists are called junior house officers (JHOs) and senior house officers (SHOs) respectively. JHOs and SHOs often work twelve-hour shifts every day of the week without time off. Their pay is often delayed or not distributed at all. With limited access to accommodation or transportation to Ugandan hospitals, any delay in pay is detrimental to the doctors’ quality of life and ability to provide quality care at work. 

JHOs and SHOs are not just a small group of healthcare providers in the country. According to Uganda’s health statistics, these JHOs and SHOs make up “over 75% of the human resources for doctors in regional referral hospitals, national referral hospitals, and many private not-for-profit hospitals, and they are almost always the first responders.” 

Working conditions for medical providers have become so poor in Uganda that the country is facing a mass exodus of qualified workers. Middle Eastern countries have recruited Ugandan doctors with the promise of better pay and benefits, and hundreds accept the offer each year.

Moving Forward

Strikes and Uganda’s health statistics have made international headlines and drawn attention to the country’s health crisis, but change is possible. In the 1960s, Uganda’s healthcare system was considered one of the best in East Africa. The country has made incredible strides in combating HIV and containing Ebola. But factors like the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws threaten the country’s ability to openly fight the spread of HIV and increased offers from outside countries continue to encourage Uganda healthcare workers to leave the country. Health issues in Uganda arise not just from one or two factors. To understand and address these issues, we must take a wider look at the country’s systems and cultural norms.

Today, HIV is one of the leading causes of death and health issues in Uganda, along with malaria, tuberculosis, and neonatal conditions. While the country’s healthcare system has been in decline for decades, it is not for a lack of motivated healthcare providers or medical students. 

In order to see Uganda’s health statistics reflect a healthier country, unique solutions from within the country and around the world need to be put in place.

Creating Doctors in Uganda

Girl Power USA knows the impact of providing support to medical students in Uganda and around the world. The organization aims to provide mentorship to women around the world as they pursue their careers. For women in Uganda who want to enter the healthcare profession, this means providing mentorship, monetary support, and other solutions that combat the many factors contributing to Uganda’s failing healthcare system. 

Devota Valerie is one of these women. She works with health issues in Uganda every day as she studies medicine at Kampala International University. Full tuition for medical school in Uganda costs 80 million Ugandan shillings, approximately $20,000. Girl Power USA is supporting students like Valeria with tuition provided that they work in Uganda for five years after graduation. By paying student fees, covering equipment costs, and providing other assistance, we hope to improve the doctor-patient ratio and alleviate other health issues in Uganda. 

Donations to organizations like Girl Power USA inspire women like Wangi to create initiatives in their own communities. 

Doctors should not have to uproot their entire lives and move to another country just to receive fair wages and compensation for the life-saving work they do every day. By bringing awareness to health issues in Uganda and offering support to healthcare workers, Girl Power USA hopes to see Uganda as a country with a respected healthcare system once again. 

Q1- What should be done to increase healthcare services in Uganda?

• Building more health facilities, providing more essential medicines, recruiting more trained doctors, and funding medical students’ education in Uganda.

Q2- What are the barriers to achieving health for all in Uganda?

• Lack of education, lack of transportation, shortage of doctors, and lack of medical equipment are the causes of health issues in Uganda. 

Q3- What is the doctor-patient ratio in Uganda?

• Uganda’s doctor-patient and nurse-patient ratio is approximately 1:25