Health 12 June 2026 Daily Monitor (Uganda)
Nurses' Union Backs Medical Interns on Allowance Reinstatement
Uganda's Nurses and Midwives Union is echoing calls for the government to reinstate monthly allowances for medical interns, warning that their removal could negatively impact healthcare quality and patient safety. Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/nurses-union-asks-govt-to-restore-medical-interns-allowances-5494038
The Uganda Nurses and Midwives Union (UNMU) has joined the growing chorus of disapproval against the government’s decision to cease paying medical interns’ allowances starting August 2026. The union argues that this move, intended to integrate internship into formal university education, will significantly demotivate trainees and ultimately compromise the standard of care delivered in health facilities across the country.
UNMU President Justus Cherop Kiplangat emphasized the union’s solidarity with medical interns, stating that they “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.”
This strong stance from the nurses’ union follows a similar sentiment expressed in Parliament, where Opposition leader Joel Ssenyonyi questioned the practicality of expecting interns to serve without financial support. The issue has gained traction, prompting Vice President Jessica Alupo to announce that the government would review the decision, with the Cabinet set to discuss a proposed Medical Education and Internship Policy.
“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 told lawmakers.
Kiplangat stressed the importance of consulting healthcare worker representatives before implementing policies that directly affect training and service delivery. He referenced the National Education and Training for Health Policy 2025, which itself identifies poor intern and supervisor welfare as a detriment to training quality. “If the government is stating this in her policy, removing allowances for medical interns does not improve welfare. In any case, it worsens it,” Kiplangat stated, adding that “hungry, stressed medical interns cannot provide safe care.”
The union also highlighted that financially unsupported trainees could pose a risk to patient safety, directly impacting Uganda’s Vision 2040 goal of becoming a regional healthcare hub. “An intern working without food or transport money is a patient safety hazard. Mistakes made by hungry personnel will cost Ugandan lives,” Kiplangat warned. The UNMU advocates for prioritizing investment in health workers to ensure the delivery of quality healthcare.