Uganda: MP Wakida Warns Against Arresting Health Workers Over Medicine Stock-Outs

Kibuku Member of Parliament Patrick Godfrey Wakida has cautioned against arresting health workers who direct patients to purchase medicines from private pharmacies due to the government's ongoing medicine stock-outs in public facilities. Wakida argued that health workers should only face punishment for proven instances of theft, not for simply prescribing patients to seek medicines elsewhere when the required medicines are unavailable.

He highlighted that some health facilities go without essential medicines for three to four weeks, forcing clinicians to choose between letting patients go untreated or directing them to obtain the medicines from private sources. Wakida emphasized the need for a multi-faceted approach to address the issue, including increasing government spending on medicines, closing a Shs150 billion funding gap for essential medicines, and implementing a digital tracking system for medicines in health facilities and for patients.

He stressed the importance of distinguishing between genuine cases of medicine theft and cases where health workers are merely responding to the lack of medicines in public facilities.