Uganda: Mungherera's Departure and the Continuing Turmoil in Healthcare

15 February 2017
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One of my childhood friends from preparatory school through high school is now a senior pathologist at the national referral hospital, regularly offers free specialist services to friends of mine. Families faced with medical challenges requiring specialist services are often confused unsure of where to start. The most common ailments are chronic diseases including cancers of all types; the deadliest of which extinguish a patient's life in days rather than months or years of treatment. Over the years, the patients who have this form of medical calamity are now ironically better off than patients who die within hours or days of admission because urgent medical care often taken for granted has fallen far behind treatment of chronic illnesses.

A cancer patient has the luxury of being misdiagnosed, prescribed the wrong medication at great cost and bearing the indignity of waiting long lines as the Uganda Cancer Institute is now grappling with 5,000 patients. For the patients who are better off enjoying institutional care like Dr Margaret Mungherera, there is an option of being airlifted abroad, India is the most common destination for medical tourism for treatment. India is seeing more of these patients on an outpatient basis as their conditions can be managed using ambulatory care. Patients stay in hostels, inns and hotels only going for treatment as needed. Strict price controls ensure that most original drugs are still affordable. A 20 puff dose of Advir a lifeline for asthmatic patients costs just $20.00 in India compared to $350.00 for a 60 puff dose of the same in the United States. In Uganda, such a drug would simply not feature on any list because its street price would be close to Shs5 million for a 30 day supply of the same drug.

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