FORGET PHC FUNDS, DHO TELLS HEALTH CENTER IN-CHARGE

Ms. Baguma Samalie is an In-charge at Rwengaju HC II. Samalie a lady in her mid thirties has proven to be hardworking and committed to saving lives in Rwengaju parish Busoro Sub County, Kabarole District. Supported by five other staff, Samalie has through thick and thin managed to keep the HC effectively running and growing. Apart from reporting for duty everyday at 8:00am to 6:00pm which is not the case with most of today’s Health workers, Samalie has gone ahead to use her personal savings and salary to implement several activities at the HC especially the outreach activities like immunization. Samalie who is around two years old at the HC revealed to the RWECO monitoring team on 27.06.12 that she and her staff had offered to use their own savings to run the center, with the hope that they would recover these funds when Government sends the HC’s PHC funds. Such love for the people and commitment at work is what I find inspiring and tongue tying as well. Whereas government is failing on its role to provide adequate PHC funds to HCs coupled with its delay, it has gone ahead to cut the national health budget year after year, and also deny some HCs their PHC arrears; Rwengaju HCII is one of them. According to the HC In-charge the HC serves a population of over 9000 people, receives between 20-40 people per day and 18milllion shillings PHC funds per year.

Unfortunately this money comes in late or doesn’t even come at all, for instance Samalie revealed that “as much as PHC funds are expected to be quarterly and 1900000 million shillings per year, we usually receive around 850000 shillings only which also comes in late, like after 2 quarters or even nothing at all; for example we have not received PHC for almost a year now. We were forced to use our own savings to keep the Center running, hoping that we shall recover it, unfortunately when i followed up with the DHO in early June, he told me to forget that money-the arrears. He said that government does not have money to even fund current programs so demanding and expecting arrears becomes even more difficult” Samalie revealed that she finds the situation and the DHO’s communication very demoralizing and scary, “I do not know how we shall keep working with inadequate funds. And now that we can’t even recover our previous monies, I do not think we the staff can continue funding the HC, Government should do something” Samalie remarked. Looking at the amount of PHC funds received versus the total population of Rwengaju parish, it is clear that each person gets less than 3shillings of the PHC funds; an amount so small to save a life, not even treat minor diseases. With the limited support government is giving to the Health sector and Rwengaju HCII in particular, it goes without saying that even the self motivated and hardworking staff at the HC will lose interest in their work and let things/services and lives ‘go to the dogs’. There is need for continued advocacy and lobbying of the government by development partners, and health practitioners to increase the health budget and PHC