MPs irked by stock-out of sickle cell drugs in Busoga
The shortage was revealed on Monday during an oversight visit by Members of Parliament on Committee on Health to selected health facilities in the sub-region.
JINJA CITY, September 9, 2026 — Several hospitals in the Busoga Sub-region have gone for four months without essential medicines used to treat sickle cell disease [SCD], worsening the burden faced by patients.
The shortage was revealed on Monday during an oversight visit by Members of Parliament on Committee on Health to selected health facilities in the sub-region.
The committee, led by its Deputy Chairperson, Hope Nakazibwe, expressed concern after discovering that hydroxyurea, an essential medicine used to manage SCD, has been unavailable for months at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital, Mpumudde Health Centre IV and Buwenge General Hospital.
Hydroxyurea is a World Health Organisation-recommended medicine that helps reduce the frequency of sickle cell attacks, hospital admissions and deaths among patients.
Jinja Regional Referral Hospital, which serves about 4.5 million people, treats more than 2,000 sickle cell patients every month, raising concerns about the ability of ordinary families to afford the medicines when they are forced to buy them privately.
“For an ordinary Musoga, how many do we expect to afford these special, specialised medicines on their own? It is next to impossible,” said Sarah Lwansasula, the Jinja City Woman Member of Parliament.
The hospital’s Senior Pharmacist, Mathias Mayanja, said the shortage had persisted despite efforts to secure supplies through the national health system.
“National Medical Stores [NMS] put them on a programme where we do not pay. The Ministry of Health went ahead to direct CIPLA/Quality Chemicals Ltd to start manufacturing hydroxyurea. It is coming to six months, but when we contacted NMS, they said the medicine was not available,” Mayanja said.
The hospital is also facing shortages of third-line antiretroviral drugs [ARVs], which are specialised medicines used to treat patients whose HIV has developed resistance to earlier treatment regimens.
Mayanja attributed the broader drug shortages to inadequate funding, saying the hospital requires significantly more resources to provide all the medicines and supplies it needs.
The revelations prompted the committee to renew calls for the government to prioritise sickle cell disease.
Nakazibwe referred to a parliamentary motion passed in March 2026 calling on the government to recognise and prioritise sickle cell disease as a major health burden.
“I was among those who seconded a motion urging government to prioritise treatment of sickle cell disease as a health burden. We achieved this by having government and the Ministry of Health support it. We need to get information in time when this is not being done, now that they are not supporting an area with the highest disease burden,” Nakazibwe said.
Timothy Batuwa, the Jinja South Division West MP, said discussions were underway on the possibility of introducing bone marrow transplant services with support from specialists.
He also reiterated the need to fast-track the establishment of a regional blood bank, saying a reliable supply of blood would help reduce the burden faced by sickle cell patients.
Batuwa also raised concerns about the hospital’s ability to make full use of newly recruited specialised health workers amid persistent equipment breakdowns.
“The hospital has received super-specialised health workers such as the neurosurgeon, but is there a budget to acquire the specialised equipment to ensure he transfers his knowledge to the people? For example, do we have advanced visualisation equipment and computerised navigation tools?” Batuwa asked.
His remarks followed a revelation by Peter Kisambira, a board member and chairperson of the Finance and Development Committee at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital, that the hospital’s CT scan had been out of service for two months, while the oxygen plant had been down for four months.
Kisambira explained that some of the hospital’s equipment is serviced by experts from Germany, whose delayed travel to Uganda often prolongs equipment breakdowns.
Meanwhile, a section of MPs on the Health Committee, led by the chairperson, Julius Rude, also visited Mbale Regional Referral Hospital as part of a broader oversight visit to health facilities in the eastern region.
https://thecooperator.news/mtic-holds-cooperative-clinic-in-jinja-to-revitalise-busoga-sector/
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