By Ben Musanje

Ministry of Health has broken silence over the proposal to make patients pay for medical bills at the refurbished Mulago National Referral Hospital saying it is only the Super Specialized wing that will have services paid for.

Addressing the media in Kampala, the Minister for Health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng says Mulago hospital upper wing will be for normal referrals at a free cost while the lower wing known as New Mulago will only cater for super specialized services like kidney transplants at the specified charges.

This comes after criticism from the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga over this arrangement but Dr. Aceng says that super specialized services are internationally charged only to maintain the standards.

However, Aceng explains that super specialized services are internationally charged only to maintain the standards and it would require trillions of shillings for government to meet the costs for people to access it at a free pay.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry Permanent Secretary Dr. Diana Atwine confirms that they are drafting a law that will provide the ministry with powers to recruit monitor and supervise all key health workers at the district and sub-county level to control absenteeism among them at the health facilities.


Friday 19th May 2017 06:20:18 AM