Health Activists on Closure of Private Clinics in Government Hospitals

Following reports of stolen government drugs being sold in private pharmacies in 2019, President Yoweri Museveni ordered private pharmacies to vacate government hospital premises citing drug theft but later halted the implementation with a letter.

Three years down the road, the president now wants his earlier directive implemented. But health activists are questioning the directive, fearing that it may not be the silver bullet to the drug supply problem in hospitals, advising the government to rather increase its list of priority drugs.

 Closure of private clinics will not solve the issue of drug stock out. We need to address that broad issue of medicines. Increase the budget but also look at accountability,” Mable Kukunda, Head of Advocacy, UNHCO.

The president’s directive was motivated by claims of government drugs ending up in private pharmacies, a view that the activists don’t dispute.

However, the shadow minister for health Dr. Timothy Batuwa believes its high we review and formulate new policies to guide the private partnership for health and the procurement of so called priority drugs.

There was no policy change to support the presidential directive. There was no policy change to address the gap that these pharmacies are coming to fill. Essential drugs list has never been revised for some years now. There is need of drugs that government doesn’t procure. If the presidential directive is to work, there is need to change the policy,” Dr. Timothy Batuwa, Shadow Minister of Health.