This woman whose name we have concealed on request said that on Wednesday last week she took her son who had suffered a perforated intestine to Mulago Hospital’s Casualty wing. “You can easily die in Mulago when you don’t have money. They discharged me without any drugs.” She claimed her son was only given an intravenous drip. For everything else including a blood test and any drugs her son might have need, she was directed to the clinic near the hospital. “The doctors sent me for laboratory tests in Wandegeya where they charged me one hundred thousand shillings.”

The situation prevailing at the hospital meant that those without money to buy drugs or pay for the services outside were left to suffer helplessly. “I was touched when one patient was ordered off the seat bed.” The Spokesperson of Mulago hospital Enock Kusasira admitted that the hospital had experienced stock-outs of drugs and sundries in the recent months. “We had problems sometime last month, the month that ended yesterday. Because of the end of the Financial Year, the National Medical Stores was doing stocking and for about 2 weeks we did not have enough supplies. And that affected our operations.”

“We are looking at 10,000 patients, how much do they use in terms of sundries, how much do we use when we are conducting surgeries, how much do you use on a patient with a head injury if you want to create what they call titanium mesh to reconstruct the curve, you need about 7 million on each patient.” Said, Enock Kusasira – Spokesperson, Mulago Hospital. In the meantime, the woman and her son had to return to Mulago hospital next week for further medication but she was skeptical that the situation will have changed for the better.