Parliament to discuss welfare issues of Intern Doctors tomorrow

Jinja West MP, Hon. Dr. Timothy Lusala Batuwa has been granted leave by the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah to present a motion on the welfare of doctors.

The decision came Batuwa who is also the Shadow Minister for Health,
requested to be allowed to move a motion without notice, so that the house makes a decision on the ongoing strike by intern doctors and the crisis it has posed in health facilities.

The Speaker however noted that the proposed issue is important and needs a formal motion to be presented, and allow legislators to debate. 

Oulanya added that many MPs have several issues to say about the current situation given that parliament appropriated funds for intern doctors allowances.

He, therefore, granted leave to Batuwa to prepare a motion that will be presented to the House on Thursday for formal debate.

The development comes at a time when interns are battling poor payment and welfare from government. They were recently ordered to vacate the hospitals at which they work, by Friday this week, if they do not end their ongoing strike.

Earlier today, some doctors who were walking to parliament to present their grievancies were arrested and spent the whole day in detention at CPS, before being released on police Bond this evening.

The doctors under the Uganda Medical Association-UMA marched to Parliament with a petition seeking the intervention of Parliament in the ongoing industrial action.

Those arrested include medical interns, representatives of dental pre-interns, nurses, and midwives at the Bachelor level. They were led by the President of UMA, Dr. Samuel Oledo. Unfortunately, the group was intercepted by police near the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development along George street in Kampala.

Medical interns laid down their tools citing low salaries, compensating families of doctors that succumbed to COVID-19 in line of duty, working with limited tools such as sundries and personal protective equipment in addition to constant drug stock-outs in hospitals.

The doctors are also protesting the health ministry’s decision to evict all medical interns from their training health facilities.