Uganda’s nurses and midwives union has urged the government to reinstate allowances for medical interns, warning that scrapping the payments could undermine healthcare services and patient safety.
The call comes amid growing criticism of a government decision to stop paying monthly allowances to medical interns from August 2026 as part of a plan to integrate internship training into the formal university education system.
Uganda Nurses and Midwives Union (UNMU) President Justus Cherop Kiplangat said withdrawing the allowances would demoralise trainees and ultimately affect the quality of care provided in health facilities.
“As the union representing nurses and midwives, we stand in solidarity with our medical colleagues. We cannot remain silent when a policy that should strengthen health training is instead endangering patients and de-motivating the very workforce meant to save lives,” Kiplangat told reporters on Friday.
His remarks came a day after Vice-President Jessica Alupo said the government would review the decision following weeks of public criticism.
Alupo told Parliament that Cabinet would discuss the proposed Medical Education and Internship Policy before the Health Minister presents a statement to lawmakers.
“We are talking about the positive impact of the deliberate channeling of resources to the human resource development of our country. We can definitely review this policy,” Alupo said.
The issue was raised during a parliamentary sitting where Opposition leader Joel Ssenyonyi questioned how interns would sustain themselves without allowances while being expected to report for duty.
“The government recently suspended public holiday functions to save money. We had already passed that entire budget. Government, let us find this money so that we can pay medical interns,” Ssenyonyi said.
Kiplangat argued that the government should consult health workers’ representatives before implementing changes that directly affect training and service delivery.
He cited the National Education and Training for Health Policy 2025, which identifies poor welfare for interns and supervisors as a factor affecting the quality of training.
“If the government is stating this in her policy, removing allowances for medical interns does not improve welfare. In any case, it worsens it and it should be clear to the government that hungry, stressed medical interns cannot provide safe care,” he said.
The union also pointed to the policy’s emphasis on public interest and patient safety, arguing that trainees working without adequate financial support could compromise healthcare standards.
“An intern working without food or transport money is a patient safety hazard. Mistakes made by hungry personnel will cost Ugandan lives,” Kiplangat said.
UNMU said it fully supports medical interns’ demands for the restoration of allowances and urged the government to prioritise investment in health workers if Uganda is to achieve its Vision 2040 goal of becoming a regional hub for quality healthcare.
“If they want Uganda to become a regional hub for quality health care as envisioned in Vision 2040, then they should pay the people training to deliver that care,” Kiplangat said.