Has Uganda’s public health expenditure dropped by 90% since 2013?
Is the government spending UGX 3,700 per person on treatment in public hospitals compared to UGX 40,000 in 2013?
According to an article in the Daily Monitor on health spending in Uganda, the amount of money that government pays for every individual who sought treatment in a public health facility reduced from about UGX40,000 per individual in 2013 to UGX3,700 today.
Citing the Ministry of Health’s 2014–2016 Survey on National Health Expenditure, the article states that this situation is indicative of a lack of concern by the national government in providing healthcare services to its citizens, especially considering how much it pays to treat public officials abroad.
The article further notes that WHO-recommended average expenditure is about UGX130,000 per person annually, and the current low level of government investment in healthcare has led to poor quality of service from public health facilities, and consequently, majority of Ugandans have shunned government hospitals for private hospitals and health facilities.
So, the question is, has government spending on healthcare per person reduced from UGX40,000 in 2013 to UGX3,700 in 2018?
PesaCheck has researched the issue and finds that Daily Monitor’s report is FALSE for the following reasons:
According to Uganda’s National Health Accounts (NHA) report for 2010/11 and 2011/12, per capita spending by the country’s government was UGX 130,448 in 2010/11, and UGX 130,723 in 2011/12.
The NHA report for 2013 to 2015 shows that per capita expenditure increased to UGX 144,374 in the 2012/13 financial year, and UGX 146,941 in 2013/14.
Current Health Expenditure (CHE) in Uganda was Shs 4.956 trillion in 2013/14, with per capita spending of UGX 147,049($55)1 and Shs. 4.844 trillion in 2012/13 with per capita spending of UGX 148,129 ($56).
Government health financing accounted for 17% of the current health expenditure, with 40% coming from out-of-pocket payments by patients and the rest being paid out by private health insurance.
The Country needs to address high levels of Out-of-Pocket expenditure (40%) in order to protect households from catastrophic spending by broadening pre-payment mechanisms such as Social Health Insurance — Uganda Health Accounts Report, 2016
That means that Daily Monitor’s claim that the government spending on citizen treatment has reduced from UGX 40,000 to UGX 3,700 per year is FALSE.
Do you want us to fact-check something a politician or other public figure has said about public finances? Complete this form, or reach out to us on any of the contacts below, and we’ll help ensure you’re not getting bamboozled.
This report was written by PesaCheck Fellow Emma Laura N. Kisa, a Ugandan data journalist and multimedia specialist, and edited by PesaCheck managing editor Eric Mugendi. The infographics are by Eunice Magwambo, a Kenyan graphic designer, visual artist and digital content producer.
PesaCheck, co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of so-called ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ or SDG public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water / sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org.
PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its local Code for Uganda chapter, with additional support from the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ).
