THE Ministry of Health requires sh520b annually to pay and retain 46,977 health workers. However, due to budgetary constraints, it can only employ 28,000 health workers, who require sh277b to be properly motivated. The Government provides only sh151b. Dr. Francis Runumi, the Director of Health services, told a meeting of the Uganda Local Government Association (ULGA) that poor remuneration had forced many health workers to go abroad.

HEALTH experts in Uganda have asked for a policy on using non-medically trained health care workers to deliver maternal and child health care. They said the move would bridge the health providers’ human resources gap and save lives of people who can be rescued by simple and fast interventions.

Uganda’s President, H.E. Yoweri Museveni has said the African Union (AU) must work towards ending armed conflicts in Africa if it is to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). He said while progress had been made in the search for peace, security and stability, there was need for a renewed resolve to end the scourge of conflicts and violence on the continent.