In the last six months, it is estimated that government saved at least Shs 100bn meant for foreign trips, thanks to a global Covid-19 preventive lockdown for much of the year.

Now the Palliative Care Association believes that money should be diverted to fight cancer, an exploding problem in Ugandan health care. Dr Emmanuel Luyirika, the executive director, African Palliative Care Association (APCA), has asked government to divert all the saved funds to help in the treatment of cancer, which remains expensive and not accessible to all.

“We want parliament and ministry of Finance to reallocate these funds to the health sector and help communities suffering with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like cancer,” he said during a recent virtual event to commemorate the World Hospice and Palliative Care day in Kampala.

However, recently an official on parliament’s budget committee told The Observer that much of the ‘saved Shs 100bn’ had already been diverted to fight the Covid pandemic. The ministry of Health had asked for Shs 2.2 trillion to fund an 18-month Covid-19 response, but official ministry of Health figures show that by June 30, the ministry had received only Shs 119bn.

GROWING NCD PAIN

Uganda has in recent years seen a surge in NCDs, leaving stakeholders such as Luyirika concerned. He now wants the government to increase taxes on beverages including sodas, to encourage Ugandans to have healthier diets.

“This money [from the additional taxes] can be diverted to the health sector.” According to Dr Charles Olalo, the director, Curative Service at the ministry of Health, every year more than 40 million people need palliative care services worldwide but in Uganda very few patients with terminal illnesses access palliative care and many die in agony.

“In Uganda about 30 new districts don’t have palliative care services. We are doing everything possible to make sure palliative care services reach all districts,” he said.

Even the older, established districts, only a handful have access to palliative care, which ensures a dignified and pain-free conclusion to one’s life.

DROP IN PALLIATIVE CARE SERVICE

Dr Henry Ddungu, the president and board chair of the Palliative Care Association Uganda (PCAU), said Covid-19 has stressed the continuity of palliative care as an essential service.

“Member organizations reported up to 50 per cent drop in the number of patients seen during March to May 2020. These hospice and palliative care organizations had over 10,000 patients enrolled on their programs during that time. The pandemic has affected the models of palliative care service delivery too,” he said.

Now in addition to being vulnerable to Covid-19 because of underlying causes, many cancer patients are also weathering the pandemic in unnecessary pain.

“Hospices are facing hardships. Even the parent palliative care entity Hospice Africa Uganda is hardly offering the magnitude of services they used to offer. Palliative care medicines are part of the essential medicines list and the government is availing oral liquid morphine for patients in need, free of charge.”

Ddungu hopes government investments more in palliative care including direct support to hospices and that the proposed national health insurance scheme covers the crucial service.