Health and policy experts from various organizations have echoed the need to establish health systems that can effectively respond to emerging and re-emerging epidemics. This was during a three day National Symposium on Universal Health Coverage held August 26-28, 2015 at Silver Springs Hotel, Kampala.
The symposium was organized by a consortium of implementing partners of the project on Supporting Policy Engagement for Evidence- Based Decisions for Universal Health (SPEED) led by Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH).
During a panel discussion on epidemic management, Dr. Orem Jackson from the Uganda Cancer Institute commended the Ministry of Health for establishing the Cancer Institute and putting cancer research at the forefront. He however, called for development of a comprehensive National Cancer Program that can be shared with the entire East Africa region. He also emphasized the need to generate robust data on non-communicable diseases to inform strategies that are geared at achieving universal health coverage.
On the psychological aspect of health, Dr. Sheila Ndyanabangi a psychiatrist from the Ministry of Health asked Government to set laws and avail resources on mental health research. She called for tracking of data to ensure effective treatment and blamed the thousands of Ebola deaths in Liberia and Sierra Leone to lack of adequate psychosocial measures in combating the deadly epidemic. Ndyanabangi urged Ugandans to advocate for the strengthening of the diagnostic system and blamed the politicization of health issues citing the nodding syndrome disease in Northern Uganda.
Researchers also discussed the financial aspects of Universal health Coverage considering the declining funding for health programs amidst increasing demand for health services. Health insurance was one of the financing options discussed and study findings presented affirmed the willingness of patients to pay for health care services as long as the quality was improved. However, Robert Anguyo of Dar-es-Salaam University cautioned governments against rolling out national health insurance programmes without adequate preparations. He cited Mexico that took 20 years preparing its health insurance scheme. He also gave an example of Rwanda where health equity funds have been put aside for the poor.
In a related discussion on the impact of AID on health outcomes in Uganda, Tonny Odokonyero, a Researcher at EPRC pointed out that huge amounts of foreign aid are channeled to infrastructure development of the health sector at the expense human resource development and provision of adequate medical supplies.