October 17, 2023
KAMPALA, Uganda | A groundbreaking draft bill, titled “The Uganda Health Professionals Regulatory Council Bill, 2023,” is currently under parliamentary review and could transform the landscape for health professionals in Uganda. The bill seeks to repeal and replace three outdated health professional statutes with a single comprehensive law, establishing the Uganda Health Professionals Regulatory Council (UHPRC).
The three statutes set for replacement are the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act, Cap 272; the Nurses and Midwives Act, Cap 274; and the Allied Health Professionals Act, Cap 268. These laws have remained unchanged since they came into effect almost twenty years ago and fail to reflect the evolving realities of the health profession in Uganda. The bill’s objective is to address these shortcomings and ensure the rights and recognition of health professionals in Uganda.
A significant change proposed in the new legal framework is to make membership in health professional associations compulsory by statute. This move would bolster the credibility and cohesiveness of these associations, enabling them to advocate effectively for their interests. The bill also aims to harmonize the standards and qualifications for each profession, fostering mobility and skills recognition among health workers. Moreover, it seeks to strengthen accountability and quality assurance mechanisms, ultimately improving service delivery and safeguarding public health.
If the bill is approved, the Uganda Health Professionals Regulatory Council (UHPRC) will be established as a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal. The UHPRC’s responsibilities will encompass the regulation, supervision, and control of training, practice, and other related aspects for all health professionals in Uganda. It will comprise representatives from various health professions, the Ministry of Health, the National Council for Higher Education, the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council, the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council, the Allied Health Professionals Council, and the public.
This legislative effort comes at a critical juncture when health professionals in Uganda are seeking recognition and fair treatment. This development reflects a commitment to creating a supportive environment for healthcare workers and ensuring that healthcare standards in Uganda remain at the forefront of quality and safety.
We the health professionals leaders rejected this bill because we were never consulted, the architects of the bill are medical officers who want to use this bill to dominant further and they have deliberately reduced the rights of other health professionals to practice medicine.
If the bill was of a great common cause benefiting health workers, all stake holders would be consulted for the betterment of the proffesionals, but the medical officers want to take advantage of the current disorganized system of education and healthy Care so as to disadvantage other proffesions especially the Allied proffesion.They have taken a lion’s share in everything including magnalizing Allied health, for this we will not allow.
Actually the article above doesn’t bring out the gist of the matter but our colleagues the medical officers are destroying the health system
If the bill was of a great common cause benefiting health workers, all stake holders would be consulted for the betterment of the proffesionals, but the medical officers want to take advantage of the current disorganized system of education and healthy Care so as to disadvantage other proffesions especially the Allied proffesion.They have taken a lion’s share in everything including magnalizing Allied health, for this we will not allow.
Actually the article above doesn’t bring out the gist of the matter but our colleagues the medical officers are destroying the health system I beg to submit
This article is well on point, it reflects what the bill have addressed. However, it even further exacerbates the bias, poor working conditions and doesn’t address and recognise the diverse nature of the human resource for health. Similarly, it infringes on the rights of the cadres and/or professions under Allied Health Professionals Council etc…
Policies are developed to better the current circumstances not to water down career development of others in favor of one. And the processing of coming up with such should include a series of beneficiaries’ consultations and research based surveys to ascertain Cost-Utility or cost-effectiveness and budget impact evaluations for such a development.
As health care professionals, after going through the bill, we have noted a number of inconsistencies including and failure to recognize the existence and output of different professionals. The said bill is inclined to monopolize the healthcare delivery to one cadre, this is dangerous for our citizens. We advise the parliament to call all the health professional association leadership, which are over 10 associations( Allied, pharmacy, nurses, midwives etc) NOT only medical officers to adequately debate this bill.
We strongly WARN the nation about the ill information shared in this bill to ovoid exacerbation of the already limping health care system.
the bill targets to disorganise the Uganda health system ..because its sided favouring specific health cadres, not considering equal respect and rights of all health cadres.
This bill is biased to mainly the medical and dental practioners interests while it under minds interests of other health professionals who contribute over 50% to the healthcare system. The bil should be pushed back for consultations and clear input of all other councils, health association and health professionals.
My concern is on the supervision of maternity homes and nursing homes manned or established by the nurses and midwives. Why should a doctor or a clinical officer supervise the works of the nurses and midwives? Does it mean that this profession has no highly qualified personnel to supervise their fellow colleagues? I say no to this . Doctors should supervise their fellow colleagues in business, clinical officers should supervise theirs and highly qualified nurses should supervise their colleagues.
The nursing profession has evolved over time and it should be given it’s due respect. The profession has nurses with PhDs, those with masters degrees, has nurses and midwives with bachelors but are not being utilized. The doctors should stop the business of undermining the nurses and midwives of Uganda. They should be treated as equals because without them, they are also nothing. Treating or management of patients is done by a team and not doctors only. It means everyone’s input matters if better patient outcome is to be achieved.
Ring fencing of positions in the health sector is another thorn in our feet as health professionals. Let the positions be equally competed for by all health professionals as it is in Kenya. You find a doctor having a position which should have been for an epidemiologist or public health specialist. And more.
We all deserve better
This a medical officers bill meant to fulfill their selfish interests while denying/ suppressing the right of other professionals such as Allied health professionals from practicing what they studied. In addition, it is non inclusive and doesn’t recognise all professional degrees under allied. Just know the bill is scam
This bill is not inclusive of all the health professionals, rather tailored towards sabotaging their rights to practice medicine and exacerbating the already existing bias in the health care system. All stakeholders need to first be consulted.
The bill is dominating one side of the health professionals over others yet several specialities have also grown in nursing and midwifery area. The bill should seek instead to enhance specialization in various health lines and chain of supervision. I don’t know whether the bill proponents read management theories eg 14 principles Henry Fayol to inform decision making. Let this bill be recalled and all relevant beneficiaries in the health fraternity be consulted adequately. You can not expect a medical officer to be the one supervising nurses/midwives yet this cadres also have higher qualifications sometimes than even medical officers, this will lead to extreme exploitation and rigidity in health service delivery. We have seen rural health facilities completely without a medical officer but being run by nurses and midwives so where have they been, let’s address professional inequities and inequalities once and for all.
The Bill is not yet approved by Parliament of Uganda. This is largely because the bill was proposed by Medical Officers and Dental surgeons who never consulted nurses, midwives and Allied health professionals like Clinical Officers and laboratory health workers. The Bill therefore favours one specific cadre which wants to keep stepping on the rights of other health workers. Allied health professionals, Nurses and Midwives are all not in support of the bill except Medical Officers and dentists / dental surgeons.
Therefore get the facts from Allied health professionals sucha s Clinical Officers under their association of MCOP-UG,. And also get facts from UNMWU. You realize the truth behind this bill. Thanks.
I oppose this bill. It was written by Medical officers (doctors) to fulfill their selfish interests. Allied health professionals were not consulted at any point when writing this bill. It needs to make some changes
That Bill is insufficient in solving the problems of all health workers,
If approved it will be superimposition on other health workers like allied health workers,nurses and pharmacists by Doctors so I moose it so let all health workers be consulted
Unless different health professional bodies are consulted and their opinions integrated in the policy, i do not support this bill. We need a bill that will address the concerns of all cadres in the health sector if we want to see the health of our country improve from where it is now.