Speaker Anita Among has urged the government to deploy intern doctors to improve healthcare services in the country.
Among expressed her concern over the lack of health workers at health facilities, attributing it to a lack of motivation caused by a lack of funds.
Referring to the recent social media campaign #HealthSectorExhibition, Among called on the government to provide adequate funding for the health sector and to deploy intern doctors to help address the shortage.
Among noted that failure to deploy intern doctors not only leads to a shortage of qualified medical personnel but also means that the interns cannot practice as doctors.
Among told the House that she was surprised by a report from her district Bukedea which indicated that health workers were not in the facilities.
“We need to encourage our health workers to always be available for our people, and as Parliament, we will try our best to always ensure that we have money for the health workers, hospitals, and the medicines,” she said.
Hon. Michael Bukenya (NRM, Bukuya County) said that there are over 2000 interns countrywide who are transitioning to become doctors but are currently stranded with pay and deployment.
“The Ministry of Finance should be specific on when they are going to release the money for the interns because at the moment they are not working,” he added.