KAMPALA – A section of NRM Members of Parliament – Mps have petitioned the Office of the Prime Minister over the high cost of accessing health services for the treatment of the Covid-19 pandemic in patients.
The latest development followed media reports asserting how the daily rate for patients that are critically ill and require admission into the intensive care unit – ICU ranges between Ugx 2-5 million, which amount most Ugandans can hardly affordable.
The legislators in a press conference held in Kampala on Monday, noted that although the private sector plays an integral role in supplementing government efforts in health service provision, the costs attached to their services were constraining Ugandans.
Kazo County MP Dan Kimosho noted the leader of Government Business in Parliament had to take immediate measures to curb the situation – especially offering standard reference prices for the treatment of Covid -19 patients. Kimosho however added that government had to impose a zero tax on all medical equipment used in the prevention and treatment of Covid-19.
Sheema Municipality MP Dickson Kateshumbwa said though Uganda was operating a liberalized economy, act of the private healthy service providers could only pass as an exploitation path. He noted that in Kenya, a Covid-19 patient pays an average of Ugx1.7 as compared to four million in Uganda.
Kitgum Woman MP Lilian Aber said there was an immediate need to regulate the healthy sector at the moment in order to avoid scenes of charging exorbitant fees – especially in the private hospitals – highlighting that the matter had turned into an issue of human rights. She noted that hospitals were indirectly denying Ugandans a right to treatment as well as a right to live.
The other MPs including Northern Youth – Boniface Okot, Phiona Nyamutoro – the National Youth MP, Agnes Atim Apea, the Amolatar Woman MP and Derrick Orone, the Gogonyo County MP added their respective voices towards the same cause, applauding government for the lockdown to curb the virus.
