KAMPALA, March 13, 2025 –– Members of Parliament [MPs] have expressed concerns after it emerged that high fees are being charged at the private wing of the Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital.
Buhweju County Member of Parliament, Francis Mwijukye raised the issue stating that the high fees charged by officials on women for consultation and antenatal care are unfair to most of the women in the country .
“Yesterday [Tuesday] I was at Mulago Specialised Hospital to visit a woman who delivered and was charged Shs 2 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.
The MP was responding to a motion urging government to adopt resolutions of the Second Women Parliament on at a sitting of the House on Wednesday.
Mwijukye said it is displeasing for a government funded hospital to charge Shs 890,000 for anesthesia, Shs 800,000 for antenatal care and Shs 800,000 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 the legislator.
The MPs urged the Ministry of Health to reign over operations of the private wings in all government hospitals, saying the health officials seem to have neglected the free services accessed by the majority.
“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.
Bukanga County MP, Stephen Kangwagye said the policy to charge fees in one section of a public hospital remains skewed as it 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, Chris Baryomunsi criticised the high fees charged at the public hospitals, saying government’s intention to introduce a private section in these 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], Hanifa Kawooya pledged to follow up on the reports saying, “it is a government policy but you cannot ask someone to pay Shs 2 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 Representatives, 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 percent 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.
Speaker Anita Among directed the relevant ministries to present action reports on resolutions within three months.
https://thecooperator.news/mulago-seeks-shs-10-billion-for-icus/
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