Africa-Press – Uganda. Actors in the health system have called upon the government to develop better health financing management.
Following the National Budget Framework Paper (BFP) for the financial year 2024/25 that was tabled in parliament Wednesday by the State Minister of Finance, Mr Henry Musasizi; some activists raised concerns about overdependence on foreign donors.
“A sum of Shs52.7 trillion was presented to parliament on Wednesday. However, we are going through policies in the country where external sourcing is being threatened as a number of resources will not be coming in from foreign agencies,” Mr Jeff Gidagayi Waduko, a policy and program advisor at Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG), noted.
The budget for this financial year 2023/2024 was revised by the government from Shs51 trillion to Shs52 trillion.
Mr Waduko expressed his concern that “as a country, the health sector is majorly financed externally but the budget remains the same which looks very grim.
He made these remarks during Thursday’s Budget Advocacy planning meeting for Civil Society Organisations held in Kampala.
According to Mr Peter Eceru, the Program Coordinator Advocacy at the Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD), this meeting is intended to develop proposals for next year’s health program budget.
“The discussions here are for civil society to start to think what should appear in the next budget and as an outcome to use the position paper as a tool of advocacy to influence the budget next year,” he said.
While commending the role of government in making significant progress in health programs, Mr Eceru noted the need for a functional health system.
“If you look at the budget, numerically, there has been significant progress over the years for health programs. However, we need to see functionalism of some of these health facilities put in place so that the population can access good quality health services,” he noted
Mr Waduko also appealed to the government to recognise good financial management practices by re-prioritising needs and resources.
“We have to look through ways of saving money and recognise the government for moving more to prevention rather than curative. However, we need to exercise prudent financial management and avert corruption,” he said.
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