Parliament has approved government\u2019s request to issue promissory notes worth US$379.71million (Shs1.3trillion) to finance the construction of the International Specialised Hospital of Uganda in Lubowa, Wakiso.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\ninternational hospital is intended to treat non-communicable diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nMinister of State for Finance, Hon. David Bahati said in a statement presented\nto Parliament that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Uganda are a problem\nwith fatality levels resulting from diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases,\nself-harm, interpersonal violence and road injuries increasing by approximately\n100 per cent or more since 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA\nreport on the surveillance of disease burden in Uganda conducted by the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ministry\nof Health in FY 2017\/2018, revealed that 7.3 per cent of all out-patient\nhospital visits – equivalent to 2.7 million cases, are due to NCDs,\u201d he said\nduring plenary sitting on 12 March 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bahati\nadded that this has driven the demand for infrastructure and human resource for\nhealth required to offer highly specialized treatment and medical care to\ncombat the burden of NCDs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis\nhospital will build the capacity of the country to treat complex cases like\norgan and bone marrow transplant and it will promote medical tourism,\u201d Bahati\nadded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nalso noted that the hospital will target and reduce cases of Ugandans who fly\nout of the country to seek medical attention abroad especially in India and\nSouth Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hon.\nBeatrice Anywar supported the matter saying that the specialised hospital will\ncut down on the costs involved in travelling abroad to seek treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe\nordinary person who cannot travel abroad to get specialised services will be\nable to get this treatment locally and cheaper other than dying because they\ncannot travel,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nChairperson of the Committee on Health, Hon. Dr. Michael Bukenya said that the\ncountry will definitely benefit from the construction of a specialised hospital\nto treat NCDs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\ngot statistics from the Indian High Commission stating that from 2015 to 2016,\n3200 Ugandans sought medical attention in India and over 4800 between 2016 to\n2017,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr.\nBukenya added that these figures exclude people who went through the Medical\nBoard. He said that on average a person needs US$25,000 to spend without the\ncost of travel and their caretaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However,\na section of MPs opposed the idea saying that it was very expensive and that\nthe money should be used to revamp the existing medical facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hon.\nMuwanga Kivumbi said that the promissory note is a disguised loan that is going\nto cost the country a lot to pay back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe\nconstruction of this hospital is US$249 million but when you look at the cost\nfinancing this project in the detail it is US$116 million which makes the\nproject very expensive because it will have to be paid back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hon.\nFlorence Namayanja said that these facilities to treat NCDs should be given to\nthe regional referral hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMulago\nhospital needs only US$9.6 million to put it to the standard that we want to\ntreat NCDs. Mulago is more central and accessible to the ordinary folk,\u201d she\nsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Namayanja\nadded that the government will save tax payers the burden to pay that amount of\nmoney in future when the hospital is complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nSpeaker, Rebecca Kadaga however retorted that it would be important and cheaper\nfor people to get treatment locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWould you prefer that the people with NCDs seek treatment abroad? What happens to the people who cannot afford to travel?\u201d she asked.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parli\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Parliament has approved government\u2019s request to issue promissory notes worth US$379.71million (Shs1.3trillion) to finance the construction of the International Specialised Hospital of Uganda in Lubowa, Wakiso. The international hospital is intended to treat non-communicable diseases. The Minister of State for Finance, Hon. David Bahati said in a statement presented to Parliament that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":8602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-8601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n