Health facilities in Buvuma district are facing a shortage of drugs.
The district has one health centre IV, three health center IIIs of Busamuzi, Bugaya and Namatale and eight health center IIs which include Lwaje, Bwema, Nkata, Lubya, Lukale, Lingira, Namiti and Buwooya.
John Bunjo, the assistant officer-in-charge Kitamiiro Health Centre IV, says the health workers face challenges attending to patients when there are no drugs. He says that the facility receives more than 150 patients on average each day.
Richard Isabirye, a resident of Musamuzi village in Busamuzi sub-county says that due to lack of money, he crosses the lake to the mainland in Mukono, Buikwe or Jinja districts to access drugs in health facilities. He says health workers often ask them to buy certain drugs from private clinics.
Isabirye says that since fishing is no longer a profitable venture due to the covid-19 pandemic, they find it hard to survive and raise money to seek services in private health facilities.
Buvuma district comprises 52 islands, three town councils and six sub-counties. According to the latest national census conducted in 2014, Buvuma district has 110,000 people.