Africa-Press – Uganda. Government has been dragged to court again over alleged failure and omission to regulate private health facilities that are treating Covid-19 patients.
This comes after a number of people raised concern over the exorbitant charges that private health facilities ask for to treat Covid-19 cases.
Health Equity and Policy Initiative (HEPI), a not-for-profit health rights organisation in Lira, filed the suit at the High Court in Lira June 29.
Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the Minister of Health, and Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka are jointly sued on behalf of government.
The organisation alleges that the government failed to standardise levies, rates, and pricing of medical services provided by private health facilities for the benefit of all Ugandans.
“In spite of the urgency and public outcry against private hospitals for billing patients exorbitantly at the time, the first respondent (Dr Aceng) contemptibly disregarded her statutory function entrenched in the Public Health Act Cap 281 in addressing the applicant’s concerns contained in the aforementioned letter,” the suit states.
The suit further states that in December 2019, during the sixth National Healthcare Quality Improvement conference in Kampala, the first respondent publicly stated that she had advised against the creation of a law that protects patient’s rights.
In the same meeting, Ministry of Health officials urged patients to always choose government health facilities which offer free services rather than private ones which charge exorbitant fees.
“The respondents public pronouncements reflected that there were no concerted efforts on the part of government to regulate medical charges by private hospitals,” the suit adds.
The suit also condemns the delay in providing medical care to victims of crimes or road accidents on grounds of “financial incapacity, as well as overcharging, detaining patients and cadavers over pending medical bills.”
The organisation now wants court to compel government to consult all stakeholders, formulate and introduce fair and affordable payment ceilings for all medical treatments provided by private health facilities.
It also wants a court order compelling the government to issue regulations that shall, among others; restrain all private hospitals from detaining patients and holding bodies of deceased persons for pecuniary reasons.
The Ministry of Health permanent secretary, Dr Diana Atwine, earlier indicated that government would not dictate on the prices as Uganda is a liberal economy.
She further said the Ministry of Health will accredit any private sector laboratories to carry out Covid-19 testing if they fulfill the requirements.
