On 26 Aug 2013, Dr. Speciosa Wandira-Kazibwe, Presidential Advisor on Health and Population, Ministry of Health, Uganda gave a key note address in the GIC Forum on Health and Social Protection, Universal Health Coverage: From Promise to Practice.
In a forthright keynote address, Dr. Speciosa Wandira-Kazibwe said that she approaches UHC both as a medical person and as a politician. UHC was an election manifesto pledge in the last Ugandan elections, and the political will is there to implement UHC. “Every politician wants people to be healthy because presiding over poverty is the worst thing… Politics is the key for UHC because that’s where decisions are made about what gets spent where.”
However, she also criticised the medical mindsets that can be a block to implementation of the policy and the failure to look at the issue holistically. Medical personnel and health planners preferred resources to go towards health facilities and staff, rather than taking a broader view.
UHC is important for development, she said : “Don’t just tell politicians how many people are dying – tell them how many kilos of maize they are producing if they are healthy.” Money is necessary for achieving UHC but not the only factor. “We need people to have ownership of the health system.”
