In Kisoro district, a 16-year-old kid is being held at St. Francis Hospital Mutolere after failing to pay 6.25 million shillings in medical costs.
Having been diagnosed with chronic osteomyelitis and a pathological fracture, Jonas Mfitumukiza, a primary six student at Gakenke Primary School and a resident of Mburabuturo village in Nyakabande sub-county, was admitted to the hospital on February 15, 2023.
Pathogens can induce chronic osteomyelitis, a persistent inflammatory condition that destroys bone and causes sequestrum development.
Either bacteria or fungus are to blame for the ailment. The soft tissue inside the bones, the bone marrow, becomes painfully swollen as a result.
Without treatment, the bone may perish because the swelling brought on by this infection might shut off its blood supply.
According to the father, Geoffrey Ndagijimana, Mfitumukiza underwent surgery and is currently healing. Ndagijimana claims that he was charged 6.2 million shillings at the time of his discharge nonetheless.
The victim was kept there and told not to leave the hospital grounds until Ndagijimana paid the bill in full when he was supposed to. Ndagijimana claims that his requests for time from the hospital to hunt for money have come to nought.
The director of St. Francis Hospital Mutolere, Aloysius Nsengiyumva, acknowledges that he has been caring for Mfitumukiza because his parents were unable to pay the expenses.
He continues by saying that the hospital spent a lot of money treating the patient and cannot bear to lose that money.
The High Court of Kampala declared in February that it is unlawful for private hospitals to keep patients who cannot afford to pay their medical expenses in custody.
The Center for Health, Human Rights, and Development (CEHURD) brought the lawsuit, and Mugerwa Raymond sued through his father, Sentongo Robert.
When Mugerwa failed to pay the cost of surgery that had been done on him after an accident, Jaro Hospital in Kyaliwajjala imprisoned him.
According to Justice Douglas Singiza, hospitals cannot claim to hold people regardless of the situation because they are not legally recognized as detention facilities.
Singiza continued, “Many hospitals could choose to incarcerate their clients in the basements of their premises until medical bills are cleared, and this would easily pass on as a green light for hospitals to establish private prison cells as a debt recovery method, a phenomenon that he said is antithetical to the rule of law. Singiza said that if the court were to allow the practice of hospitals detaining patients who fail to pay their medical bills to go on unchecked,
