Uganda Government has allocated Shs5.23 trillion to the health sector in the 2026/27 financial year, a continued push to strengthen healthcare delivery services,
Finance Minister Henry Musasizi said the increased funding will prioritise maternal and child health, nutrition, immunisation, treatment of non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes and hypertension, essential medicines, specialised healthcare services and emergency response systems.
Musasizi says the additional investment is intended to ensure uninterrupted access to antiretroviral drugs, anti-malarial medicines, vaccines, laboratory commodities and tuberculosis treatment supplies—areas that have historically depended heavily on donor support.
The health sector allocation comes at a time when Uganda is facing rising demand for services, driven by a growing population, increasing burden of non-communicable diseases, and gradual shifts in external donor priorities that have traditionally supported key areas such as medicines and disease control programmes.
A significant share of government spending will continue to go towards medicines and medical supplies. During the outgoing financial year, funding for the National Medical Stores was increased by Shs145.33 billion to Shs862.93 billion.
Officials say these investments are intended to decongest national referral hospitals and bring specialised services closer to communities.
The sector will also expand emergency response systems, including the national ambulance network, alongside digital health systems for telemedicine, medicine tracking, and health information management
However health budget does not include Shs28 billion required to deploy and remunerate interns in the 2026/27 financial year, raising fears of renewed delays in training placements.
The president of the Uganda Medical Association, Dr Frank Asiimwe, said delays in internship deployment not only affect young professionals entering the workforce but also strain already overstretched hospitals that rely heavily on interns for daily service delivery.
In previous years, internship programmes have faced repeated disruptions due to funding gaps. In 2024 and 2025, deployment delays triggered backlogs of graduates and public concern over workforce shortages in the health sector.
Public hospitals—particularly regional referral facilities—depend significantly on interns to run outpatient departments, emergency units, maternity wards and inpatient services under supervision. Senior clinicians have repeatedly described interns as an essential part of the workforce rather than merely trainees.
Henry Magala Country Director of Uganda Cares says that while government has increased investment in infrastructure, medicines and specialised equipment, human resource financing remains a critical bottleneck.
He stressed that facilities equipped with modern diagnostic tools and expanded wards require sufficient numbers of trained health workers to operate effectively. Without matching investment in staffing, the impact of infrastructure spending is significantly reduced.
“While government maintains that the Shs5.23 trillion allocation reflects a strong commitment to health sector transformation, stakeholders are expected to closely monitor whether the funding translates into improved medicine availability, reduced waiting times, and better service delivery outcomes,”Magala stated.
AHF Uganda Cares is an affiliate of Los Angeles based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the largest global AIDS organization which provides HIV/AIDS Care and services including Anti-Retroviral Treatment to more than 1.5 million people in 45 countries. AHF opened the first clinic in Masaka in 2002 in close partnership with the Ugandan Ministry of Health, offering the first opportunity for Anti-Retroviral Treatment outside the Capital City of Kampala. Today, AHF Uganda Cares serves more than 100,000 clients- making it one of the country’s largest providers of free HIV/AIDS services
