Parliament has resolved that the issue of the Ministry of Health’s failure to deploy all medical degree holders for internships should be discussed in Cabinet.
Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, following submissions from the Health Ministry, the Attorney General, and MPs, emphasized the urgency of addressing the non-deployment of eligible degree holders. “I think we need to give the Minister [of Health in-charge of General Duties, Ms. Anifa Kawooya] space to coordinate with the Cabinet secretariat on this matter,” Mr. Tayebwa said.
He proposed that Ms. Kawooya take a statement to Cabinet on Monday, incorporating parliamentary views, and then present it to the Parliamentary Health Committee on Tuesday. The committee would report back to Parliament on Thursday.
Ms. Kawooya responded by promising to bring a strategic plan to solve the internship deployment issue. “We shall discuss [this strategic plan] with the Committee on Health, and we come to this August house. This involves the ministries of Finance, Education, and Health. It is an issue we must put to an end,” she said.
According to Ms. Kawooya, the Ministry of Health received only Shs35 billion, insufficient to deploy all medical interns and pay senior house officers (SHOs). The funds can only cover 743 SHOs and 1,500 of the 2,700 eligible medical degree holders. Additionally, there are not enough supervisors or hospitals capable of training the interns.
Mr. Tayebwa criticized the current selection criteria for medical interns as discriminatory, noting that deploying government-sponsored students while excluding privately funded students is unfair.
Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka assured that the Cabinet would devise policies to address the problem. He suggested considering alternative funding options, such as allowing people to pay for medical intern allowances.
Dr. Timothy Batuwa, the shadow health minister, pointed out the availability of more hospitals for intern deployment and called for regulation of medical student enrollment in universities. He also suggested exploring the possibility of private facilities taking on some interns for training.
The 12-month internship, which is expected to start next month, is a requirement for new medical degree holders to obtain their permanent practicing licenses. The number of medical interns deployed this year is less than the 1,900 deployed last year. Interns are essential in bridging the health service delivery gap in Uganda, where the doctor-patient ratio is approximately 1:25,000, far below the international standard of 1:1000.
