Get a permanent solution for the medical interns
A police officer confronts medical students during a demonstration at Mulago hospital on July 30. The medical students said they were protesting against government’s failure to deploy them for internship. PHOTO/ISAAC KASAMANI.
What you need to know:
The issue: Human resource
Our view: It’s high time the government prioritised its human capital development in its allocation of resources.
The resolution by Parliament on Tuesday to have the issue of undeployed medical interns discussed by Cabinet is a welcome move.
According to the General Duties minister in the Ministry of Health, Ms Hanifa Kawooya, the ministry received Shs35b, which she says is not enough to deploy all medical interns and pay them, adding that the available money can only cater for 1,500 interns out of 2,700 eligible degree holders who need an internship.
The ministry says it costs Shs1.3 million per month, or Shs15.6 million annually, to deploy one intern. The ministry wants to deploy the 2023 cohorts and leave out the 2024 cohort.
The issue of medical interns has been going on for many years, with protests, and demonstrations almost every year.
Many such protests have always been received with heavy-handedness on the side of the government by arresting and detaining them. They are later released and the cycle continues each year.
There are always delays, and irregularities in the deployment of interns with the government saying they have no adequate senior staff to supervise them and or facilities to accommodate them.
The time has come for such challenges to be sorted and a payment solution.
These students are by practice required to complete a one-year placement in a hospital to obtain a permanent practicing license. So, on one hand, you have students in thousands begging to be deployed while at the same time, you have medical facilities that do not have personnel.
A recent report in the media exposed how many hospital patients are attended to by cleaners.
Therefore, the no deployment of interns affects service delivery in the medical facilities and the study life of our future doctors in a country where the doctor-patient ratio is still very low.
Uganda has one of the world’s lowest doctor-to-patient ratios, with only one doctor available for every 25,000 people. This ratio is below the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation of one doctor per 1,000 people.
The fact that we have many universities training medical practitioners is a good thing.
The government should find money to deploy them for both training and later service delivery because the ministry is aware of intakes and should always adequately plan for the necessary resources to deploy all interns.
It’s high time the government prioritised its human capital development in its allocation of resources.
Therefore, the country is waiting for a permanent solution next week after the Cabinet has discussed the fate of interns and the need to deploy them.
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