President Museveni orders Finance Ministry to pay intern doctors
Following various protests countrywide by pre-interns over scrapping allowances, the President has directed the ministry of Finance to avail funds for their allowances.
During a cabinet meeting on Monday, President Museveni directed the Finance Ministry not to scrap payments for medical interns.
Dr. Diana Atwine, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, says that a cabinet meeting resolved on Monday to discuss the payment issues concerning medical interns, Senior House Officers, and Senior Doctors, who have been on strike.
However, she explained that the meeting did not reach a definitive conclusion regarding when the medical interns, who were initially supposed to commence training on April 1st, would report to various hospitals across the country. This is pending a commitment from the Ministry of Finance regarding funding.
On Monday morning, several pre-medical interns were arrested while planning to march to the Office of the President to express their dissatisfaction over non-deployment and a move by the government to scrap their allowances.
The doctors were blocked from Galloway House at the Dean’s gardens inside the College of Health Sciences at Mulago Hospital, where they had intended to address the Media.
President Museveni orders Finance Ministry to pay intern doctors
Similar scenes played out across the country in parts of Kabale, Lira among others. Pre interns called on the government to deploy them to various health facilities with allowances.
According to Dr Herbert Luswata, the secretary general of the Uganda Medical Association (UMA), they are pleased that Cabinet resolved to deploy and stay allowances of medical interns in addition to clearing arrears for Senior House Officers (SHOs) and other interns .
On whether striking health workers will call off their strike, he stated that UMA will first meet with officials from the Ministry of Health on Tuesday, to discuss among other issues the nomenclature change for medical doctors special grade to associate consultants, before they communicate the next course of action.
Luswata reiterated that medical officers’ special grades are qualified enough with most holding Masters in the profession. He adds that they are being undermined to earn less and just 600,000 shillings more than the medical officers.
Medical officers special grade include gynecologists, pediatricians, surgeons among others.They earn 6 million shillings but are demanding name change and salary enhancement to 11 million shillings. The doctors laid down tools in a full blown strike on May 09, 2022.
The ICT Minister Chris Baryomusi had recently expressed concern that the growing number of medical interns would be a challenge for the government to pay allowances. He had stated that perhaps the government could consider a criteria in which interns can be entitled to allowances.
However, the cabinet resolved otherwise.
Medical interns include; doctors, pharmacists, and nurses who practice for one year at health facilities permanent practicing licenses from their professional councils. Some of them said they have been waiting for deployment for the last nine months in vain. The intern doctors are paid Shs2.5m each month.
President Museveni orders Finance Ministry to pay intern doctors
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