NATIONAL
Members of Parliament have raised concerns over exorbitant fees that are being charged from patients at the private wing of the Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital.
This followed a submission by the Buhweju County Member of Parliament, Hon. Francis Mwijukye on the floor of parliament, when he stated that the high fees charged on women for consultation and antenatal care to delivery are unfair.
“Yesterday, I was at Mulago Specialised Hospital to visit a woman who delivered and was charged Shs2 million for a caesarian section. This was a primary teacher who could not afford the fees and I wonder how many women can afford such costs,” Mwijukye said.
Mwijukye was responding to a motion urging government to adopt resolutions of the Second Women Parliament on at a sitting of the House on Wednesday, 12 March 2025. He said it is displeasing for a government funded hospital to charge Shs890,000 for anesthesia, Shs800,000 for antenatal care and Shs800,000 for normal deliveries.
“I wonder how such policies were arrived at with the Ministry of Health. We cannot continue to talk about addressing the plight of women yet when it comes to implementation it remains rhetoric,” said Mwijukye.
Legislators tasked the Ministry of Health to reign over operations of the private wings in all government hospitals arguing that public hospitals have become lucrative businesses for medics yet they are supposed to offer free services.
“Government must come out and address what is happening in the public wings of the hospital where services are free but one has to wait for six months or a year to receive treatment,” Mwijukye added.
Additionally, the Bukanga County MP, Hon. Stephen Kangwagye expressed concerns about the bias on the policy to charge fees in one section of a public hospital which he says discourages service delivery in the section where services are freely offered.
“Most of our mothers in our constituencies cannot afford the private wing; you find them lying in the corridors of hospitals as they wait for long hours to be served. We need to see how to attract the attention of doctors in the public wing as well,” Kangwagye said.
The Minister of Information, Communication, Technology and National Guidance, Hon. Chris Baryomunsi criticised what he called commercialisation of the hospital saying government’s intention to introduce a private section in public hospitals was not about commercialisation.
“Ministry of Health should be able to look into that policy and reduce fees being charged in government hospitals because the intention was to provide quick services to those who can afford but not to put exorbitant figures like Sh2 million on caesarian section,” Baryomunsi said.
The Minister of State for Health (General Duties), Hon. Anita Kawooya pledged to follow up on the reports saying, “it is a government policy but you cannot ask someone to pay Shs2 million even if it is a private wing’.
The motion for a resolution of Parliament urging government to consider the resolutions of the Second Women Parliament was moved by Lira District Woman MP, Hon. Linda Auma and adopted with its 30 resolutions.
The resolutions included appeals for government to ensure continuity of education for girls who become pregnant while in school, an increase in the education budget by 20 per cent to be able to provide gender responsive facilities in education institutions, strict enforcement of all policies against gender based violence and promotion of women participation in leadership.
The Speaker Anita Among directed the relevant ministries to present action reports on resolutions within three months.
