Drug shortages, charges for face masks and calls to expand specialized healthcare services dominated discussions at the third public accountability meeting, or Baraza, at Lira Regional Referral Hospital on Thursday.
The forum brought together Ministry of Health officials, hospital managers, local leaders and members of the public to assess health service delivery and give residents an opportunity to raise concerns directly with hospital administrators.
Several residents complained that they were frequently forced to buy medicines from private pharmacies after finding essential drugs out of stock at the regional referral hospital.
Tom Richard Omara, a resident of Adyel Parish in Lira City, said he was prescribed four medicines but could not obtain any of them from the hospital pharmacy.
Responding to the concerns, Dr. Andrew Odur, the hospital’s senior executive consultant, said the hospital receives medicine supplies from the National Medical Stores every two months, but the quantities are insufficient to meet growing demand.
“With the increase in population, we have a challenge of not having enough,” Odur said.
He said the hospital prioritizes medicines for five life-threatening conditions and essential theatre supplies to ensure critical services continue uninterrupted.
Odur welcomed the government’s decision to increase the hospital’s medicines budget in the current financial year, saying it should improve drug availability. However, he appealed for further increases to reduce recurring stock-outs.
Dr. Otim Tom Charles, a hospital board member and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Lira University, acknowledged that medicine shortages continue to force some patients to purchase drugs from private pharmacies. He said the increased allocation offers hope that the situation will improve.
The sale of face masks at the outpatient department also drew criticism.
Lydia, a resident of Ngetta, questioned why patients were required to buy face masks for 1,000 shillings before receiving treatment.
“I brought my child here on Monday and found that everyone arriving at the OPD was being asked to buy a face mask,” she said. “Are these masks supplied by the government or bought from private pharmacies and resold in the hospital?”
Odur said face masks remain mandatory in the outpatient department because health workers cannot immediately determine whether patients with coughs have tuberculosis or other infectious diseases.
Robson Okabo, head of the outpatient department, said the masks are not supplied by the government or the National Medical Stores. He said supplies declined sharply after the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the hospital to procure masks to maintain infection prevention and control measures.
Persons with disabilities also raised concerns about difficulties accessing services scattered across different departments.
Odur said establishing a one-stop center for disability services may not be immediately possible but pledged that the hospital would continue improving accessibility and arranging for specialists to attend to patients when needed.
The meeting also highlighted concerns about patients abandoning conventional treatment in favor of herbal remedies and faith healing.
Mike Adoko, a former inmate at Lira Government Prison who is now a religious leader, said free surgery and treatment at the hospital had changed his perception of public healthcare. However, he accused some self-styled religious leaders and herbal medicine practitioners of persuading admitted patients to abandon treatment, putting their lives at risk.
Hospital officials urged residents to seek care from qualified health workers and avoid practices that interfere with medical treatment.
Lira City Health Officer Dr. Bernard Otucu said the hospital’s progress reflects the government’s commitment to improving health services, adding that similar accountability meetings will be rolled out across health facilities in the Lango sub-region.
Lira Resident City Commissioner Lawrence Egole described the hospital as an emerging center of excellence for northern Uganda because of improvements in specialized services and medical equipment. He, however, urged health workers to uphold professionalism, safeguard public resources, reduce medicine wastage and fight corruption.
Egole also appealed to patients and their caregivers to stop offering bribes, saying corruption can only be defeated when both public servants and the public reject the practice.
The Baraza was the third accountability meeting held at Lira Regional Referral Hospital under a Ministry of Health initiative to strengthen public participation, transparency and accountability in government health facilities.
