Uganda Health News: Government urged to recruit more nurses

A nurse at Mulago hospital speaks to MPs about shortage of nurses recently

Ultimate Media

The Uganda Nurses and Midwives council is blaming the country's high maternal and infant mortality rates on government's failure to carry out recruitment to address the current staffing gaps in health centers.

The registrar of the Uganda Nurses and Midwives council, John Wakida says on average the ministry of education passes out over 3000 nurses each year, but they are not posted to the various health facilities.

He says in order to address the shortage of nurses across the country, the available health workers must first be absorbed into civil service before embarking on further training of new nurses.

The minister of Health Dr. Christine Ondoa says the government is planning to hire 2000 Nurses and midwives this financial year to address the acute shortage of nurses and midwives across the many government health facilities.

She says having more nurses will go a long way in reducing on both maternal and infant mortality rates in the country.