Ugandans, like other citizens of the world, are not immune to the global economic meltdown. The first symptom was the increase in staple food prices, by more than 300%. This means that those families who can are spending the biggest proportion of their family earnings on food, while those who survive on subsistence agriculture are faced with dire food shortages. The effects of the economic crisis has not been made any easier by the famine that has struck Uganda leaving more than two thirds of the country with a serious food shortage.
Increased spending on food has forced many families to reduce their spending on health needs and the education of their children. This is serious because the majority of healthcare services are either fully financed by families or only partially subsidised by the government and NGOs.
An analysis of the 2009-10 budget presented to the Ugandan parliament in June this year indicates that spending on health this fiscal year will be 10.5% of the total government budget. This is 0.3 points below the spending in 2008-09, when the health budget was 10.8% of the total budget.
Whereas many development partners in Uganda say they will not reduce their health budgets, they indicate that they will only maintain previous years' commitments (flat-line funding). In per capita terms, spending will be less than previous years. This is because the population of Uganda is growing at 3.4% per annum, one of the fastest rates in the world. All the while new HIV infections are on the increase and only half the people living with HIV and Aids in need of treatment are receiving it.
There are major shortages of essential medicines in the country, with only 17.5% of health facilities surveyed by International HIV/Aids Alliance in Uganda between January and April 2009 reporting having antiretrovirals (ARVs) and cotrimaxazole stocks - drugs that are used in the management of chronic HIV infection among adults and children. The stock-outs are compounded by a weak chain management system, which is made worse by reduced public sector spending on health.
Many families and individuals are being caught in the crossfire as per capita donor and public spending on social services is reduced. Small businesses are struggling and failing, formal industries are faced with reduced sales, while the purchasing power of many individuals is decreasing. As a result people are losing jobs, while others have their quality of life substantially reduced.
A recent World Health Organisation report showed that in addition to physical health, mental health has been severely compromised as a result of the economic crisis. In Uganda, there are reports from the Ministry of Health indicating that drug abuse, including alcoholism, is on the rise in the country. Individuals who are trapped in the web of the economic meltdown are taking to the bottle. We are also seeing an increasing rate of child abuse, including child sacrifices, all of which are symptoms of people trying to stay afloat in a sea of poverty.
Milly Katana works for International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Uganda