Activists Want National Health Insurance Scheme to Cater for Cancer Patients

By Max Patrick Ocaido

The Uganda Cancer Control Community wants Parliament to include the cancer treatment service delivery in the proposed National Health Insurance scheme Bill 2019.

The parliamentary committee on Health is currently scrutinizing the Bill that seeks to increase equitable access to health services through subsidization of treatment of the sick, poor, young, elderly and harmonization of the prices for healthcare throughout the country.

While appearing before the committee, Paul Ebusu, Executive Director, Uganda Cancer Society, said that Non-communicable diseases like cancer patients should be considered to benefit from this bill , since a small portion of the health budget is allocated to the fight against Non-communicable diseases.

“We do observe that there is need to have a clear separation of the conditions into communicable and non-communicable diseases, this we believe Non Communicable Diseases including cancer will receive the due consideration. In our health care system, it is too much skewed into communicable diseases given our history that non communicable diseases are a burden of burden," he said.

Ebusu added: "But we want to recognize that non communicable diseases are becoming a burden and in this bill, if we are to clearly separate the diseases, the non-communicable diseases including cancer will get the due attention they deserve.”

Non-communicable diseases currently account for up to 33% of the country’s mortality and cancer kills more people than HIV/AIDS and Malaria. The National Health Insurance Scheme Bill is proposing penalties for late payment of contributions of salaried employees.

The Bill proposes that where any contribution which an employer is liable to pay under this Act, is not paid on or before the day on which payment is due, a penalty equaling two times the amount of the contribution, shall be payable by that employer for each month or part of the month during which the contribution remains unpaid, and the penalty shall be recoverable as a sum due to the Fund, and when recovered, shall be paid into the Fund.