People-Centered as Always, Wakiso Woman MP Betty Naluyima [of NUP] Destroys Mulago Hospital Top Bosses, Tasks Them to Explain Why Patients Are Forced to Buy Medicine Outside

By Aggrey Baba

Mulago National Referral Hospital officials have been put on the defensive before Parliament after Wakiso District Woman MP Ethel Naluyima tasked them to explain why patients seeking treatment there are always sent outside to buy medicines from nearby private pharmacies.

The embarrassing questions came on Monday as the hospital bosses appeared before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to respond to accountability queries arising from the Auditor General’s report for the year ended December 2025. Full PAC inquiry session can be viewed in video form via this YouTube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npmOMjV31Xw

Naluyima, a National Unity Platform (NUP) MP, pressed the officials to explain how a national referral hospital can examine patients, prescribe medicines and subsequently leave those same patients to struggle to find the drugs outside its premises, something which she said is very costly for some Ugandans.

The MP’s concerns brought the committee face-to-face with the reality of patients who turn to a government hospital expecting affordable treatment but end up spending even much more money purchasing medicines from private suppliers.

The Mulago officials, however, sought to explain that the problem is partly rooted in the enormous demand for medicines across the hospital’s many specialized departments and the limited financial resources available to meet those needs.

They told MPs that the hospital requires thousands of different medicines and medical supplies, making it difficult to procure everything needed for its operations.

The officials explained that Mulago first reconciles the supplies received from National Medical Stores (NMS) against its requirements before the Medicines and Therapeutics Committee determines which additional drugs should be purchased using the resources available.

The committee, which draws representation from different hospital departments, is responsible for weighing competing medical needs and deciding what should receive priority in procurement, according to the official’s account.

Their explanation also exposed the difficult choices facing the hospital, where even departments with the expertise to undertake specialized medical procedures sometimes lack the equipment and supplies required to perform them.

They cited specialized interventions requiring expensive equipment, including catheters, explaining that the hospital cannot purchase every specialized item needed despite having personnel capable of carrying out certain procedures.

The officials admitted that the situation requires fresh assessment, saying they intend to undertake another evaluation during the current financial year to establish the actual medicine requirements and identify the outstanding gaps.

They also told MPs that requests for additional funding had been submitted for consideration, but maintained that the available resources remain insufficient to meet all the hospital’s needs.

The MPs were, however, interested in more than explanations about inadequate funding. They wanted to establish precisely what Mulago receives from NMS, what it purchases independently, what remains unavailable and what measures management has taken to ensure patients are not abandoned to buy essential drugs outside.

The committee also raised concerns about regional referral hospitals, with legislators arguing that inadequate facilitation of these facilities contributes to unnecessary referrals and places additional pressure on Mulago.

The questioning extended to patient transportation, procurement expenditure and staffing shortages, including gaps in biomedical engineering personnel, as MPs sought explanations about the wider operational challenges affecting service delivery. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).