Uganda Rethinks Health Spending as Foreign Aid Dries Up

Kampala – Uganda’s health system is facing a reckoning. With global aid priorities shifting and fiscal space shrinking, the government is being forced to do more with less. The World Health Organization, working with local academics and the Ministry of Health, is now pushing a strategy built on efficiency, not handouts.

At the heart of this effort is a “health financing cliff analysis” conducted by WHO and Makerere University. The study models what happens when donor funds decline. It gives policymakers a clear picture of which services will buckle and which populations will suffer most. This is not theoretical. For Ugandans who depend on public clinics, a small funding gap can mean no medicine, no nurse, no care.