The suspension of US aid under President Donald Trump’s administration has severely affected healthcare services in Mukono district, leading to massive staff layoffs and a crisis in public health facilities.
Following the aid freeze, the Makerere University Walter Reed Project (MUWRP), a key health initiative established by the US Department of Defense has significantly downsized its workforce, exacerbating an already dire healthcare staffing situation.
According to Elizabeth Namanda, Mukono’s chief administrative officer (CAO), MUWRP had employed 236 health workers, including 32 on permanent contracts. However, the funding suspension has forced the organization to cut its workforce to just 36, retaining only those on permanent contracts while awaiting a program review.
The consequences extend beyond Mukono, affecting Kayunga, Buikwe, and Buvuma districts, where MUWRP provided critical healthcare services. Since 2005, MUWRP has played a pivotal role in HIV care and treatment under the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
The project provided services including HIV screening, treatment, and prophylaxis for opportunistic infections rapid antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation and adherence support integrated tuberculosis (TB) services, and cervical cancer screening for female ART patients.
The layoffs have worsened an already fragile healthcare system in Mukono, particularly at Mukono General Hospital, health centre IIIs and IVs, and hard-to-reach areas like Koome Island. Even before the aid freeze, Mukono was struggling with staff shortages due to a prolonged political deadlock over the formation of the District Service Commission (DSC).
For three years, disagreements have stalled the recruitment of essential healthcare workers. Dr Geoffrey Kasirye, medical superintendent of Mukono General Hospital, warns that the hospital is on the verge of collapse, operating with only 147 healthcare workers—just 52% of the required workforce.
He emphasizes the urgent need for specialist doctors, particularly obstetricians gynaecologists, and surgeons. Mukono district speaker Betty Hope Nakasi has called for immediate action, urging the District Service Commission to fast-track the recruitment process for positions that were advertised last year.
She also proposed temporarily deploying MUWRP’s laid-off workers to maintain service delivery, rather than leaving them unemployed while healthcare facilities remain critically understaffed.
Meanwhile, Namanda says the district is assessing the full impact of the funding cuts before formally requesting additional wage allocations from the ministry of Health to recruit new staff.
The crisis in Mukono highlights the wider consequences of foreign aid suspensions on healthcare systems in developing countries. With HIV, TB, and maternal health services at risk, local authorities are now racing against time to find alternative solutions and prevent a total collapse of essential health services.
Then stop demonizing the USA. They are not Satan as you make them out to be and we cannot do without them. It is not only Uganda which is affected but many other countries as well
Do not forget that it is not money printed specifically for aid but a lot tax paid by working people and those who default are jailed or heavily penalized. So if we get that aid let us use for that specific aid intended for
I have heard the Government Spokesman saying the Whites should stop criticising corruption in Government because we can do without their aid.
Trump got tired of squeezing Americans for taxes and then giving us some of that money to help us, and then a few elite use aid money for hiring mind-control spokesmen, building private mansions and living lavish lifestyles.