“The approved veil must cover the head, ears, and neck, and neatly tuck inside the uniform collar,” Museene said. She added that trainees wearing the veil must comply with infection prevention and control standards applicable to their respective clinical units, hospital departments and skills laboratories. According to Museene, the veil must be made of plain white fabric and be “entirely free from stones, colourful decorations, or any forms of embellishment.”
She also said trainees would still be required to comply with security and identification requirements during assessments. “During assessments, trainees wearing the approved veil must fully comply with all security and identification rules established by the assessment board while maintaining the approved dress code,” she said. The directive follows an earlier intervention by the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC), which had raised concerns over the treatment of Muslim women in health training institutions and clinical settings.
In a letter dated April 18, 2026, UMSC National Chairman Prof. Dr Lubega Muhamadi told the Commissioner for Health Education and Training at the Ministry of Education and Sports that the Council had received complaints from several Muslim nursing students and female Muslim nurses. According to Prof. Lubega, some of the women were being stopped from attending hospital practice unless they removed their head coverings.
The Council said the reported requirement was particularly concerning because covering the head is regarded by Muslim women as a religious obligation. “Muslim women should be allowed to observe their prescribed dress code, especially since it is a divine obligation and does not inconvenience others,” Prof. Lubega wrote. The UMSC further argued that the issue was not simply about institutional dress codes, saying that requiring Muslim women to uncover their heads could amount to discrimination and an infringement of their constitutional rights.
“Requiring Muslim women to unveil as a condition for accessing education and professional training not only constitutes discrimination but also amounts to a violation of their constitutional right to freedom of religion,” the Council said. Prof. Lubega asked the Ministry for what he described as a “prompt and amicable intervention” to resolve the matter. The April letter was copied to the Mufti of Uganda, the Secretary General of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, the Imam of the Uganda Muslim Parliamentary Association and principals of Muslim faith-based health institutions.
The Ministry’s August directive now provides a formal framework for female Muslim trainees to wear the head veil while undertaking health training and clinical practice, subject to uniform, infection-control, security and identification requirements. Museene directed all principals of public and private health training institutions to implement the position “with immediate effect” and ensure that the information is communicated to all stakeholders involved in the training of health professionals.
The directive was copied to the Director General of the Ministry of Health, the Executive Secretary of the Uganda Health Professions Assessment Board, the Executive Director of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Council, the Registrar of the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council, and the Registrar of the Uganda Allied Health Professionals Council.
