High level Government of Uganda officials, such as the Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, acknowledge that Uganda’s
Tuberculosis (TB) burden has continued to cause an enormous health challenge to the people of Uganda and is a big public health challenge to the health system in Uganda.
Additionally, TB presents an economic challenge and impacts negatively on the livelihood of our people.
It is therefore baffling that Uganda national budgets for TB management are consistently underfunded. A whopping 71 percent of the 2017/2018 budget for Uganda’s national TB programme is not funded, according to the World Health Organisation.
Insufficient funding for TB healthcare services is the reason that Pulmonary TB (PTB) diagnostic services are not easily accessible to ordinary Ugandans as they should be.
Emerging findings from a comprehensive qualitative investigation into PTB in Uganda that was conducted by CPAR Uganda Ltd agree with The Uganda National Tuberculosis Prevalence Survey, 2014-2015 which estimates that thousands of people infected with PTB in Uganda have not been tested.
Meaning that thousands of Ugandans infected with active PTB are unaware what disease afflicts them, or if they are aware they are unaware of the dire consequences of not seeking diagnostic and treatment services. PTB is an infectious airborne disease.
CPAR Uganda Ltd has authored a policy brief to the Health Committee of The Parliament of the Republic of Uganda urging it to act in order to cause better TB health care management for Ugandans.
Download a PDF of the full policy brief (5 pages) here.
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