Mulago seeks UGX8.6 billion to expand organ transplant services
The hospital requires UGX3.6 billion for medicines and equipment, UGX2.8 billion for staffing, and UGX2.2 billion for capacity building. Mulago plans to conduct 12 kidney transplants, five liver transplants, and 10 corneal operations in the 2025/26 financial year.
Mulago National Referral Hospital has requested an additional UGX8.6 billion from Parliament to enhance its organ transplant services, including the introduction of liver transplants slated to begin in April 2025.
The hospital’s Executive Director, Dr. Rosemary Byanyima, presented the 2025/26 Budget Framework Paper to Parliament’s Health Committee, emphasizing the need for full funding to ensure the smooth operation of transplant services.
“We aim to expand our organ transplant program by introducing liver transplants next year. We’ve partnered with hospitals in India and Health Education England, and a team from Manchester Hospital will join us in April and May 2025 to perform transplants,” Byanyima said.
The hospital requires UGX3.6 billion for medicines and equipment, UGX2.8 billion for staffing, and UGX2.2 billion for capacity building. Mulago plans to conduct 12 kidney transplants, five liver transplants, and 10 corneal operations in the 2025/26 financial year.
Lawmakers Bernard Sekyanzi (Budyebo County) and George Bokha (Obongi County) expressed their support for the funding request, highlighting the growing demand for transplants in Uganda. Bokha also urged the government to operationalize the Organ Donation and Transplant Council to oversee the procedures.
Dr. Byanyima reported milestones achieved since Mulago performed Uganda’s first kidney transplant in December 2023. She noted that the hospital has completed five kidney transplants, with donors fully recovered and one recipient already back at work. The success was attributed to knowledge transfer from partnerships, including collaboration with India’s Yashoda team.
The introduction of organ transplants followed the enactment of the Uganda Human Organ Donation and Transplant Act, 2021, which provides a legal framework for organ donation while protecting donors’ rights. However, Parliament initially opposed designating Mulago as the sole transplant center to avoid excluding other facilities.
Dr. Byanyima highlighted the high costs of transplants abroad, with procedures in India and Turkey averaging US$18,000 (UGX65.9 million), compared to UGX94 million in other countries. She stressed the need for local capacity to reduce the financial burden on Ugandans.
Mulago’s total medicine budget request stands at UGX101 billion. Byanyima warned that without full funding, patients would continue to purchase medications privately. Currently, the hospital receives only UGX18.3 billion, forcing it to reserve supplies for critically ill patients.
“If we get the UGX101 billion, no patient will be sent to buy medication. For now, we prioritize the critically ill due to limited resources,” she stated.
The hospital also requested UGX2 billion for specialist training, noting the high costs of training abroad in areas such as organ transplants, nuclear medicine, ICU care, and biomedical engineering.
Additional funding is needed to improve patient nutrition for ICU and diabetic patients, with UGX1.4 billion deemed insufficient.
Dr. Byanyima also flagged challenges with water supply, stating that the UGX3 billion allocated covers only a third of the hospital’s needs.
She raised concerns about pulmonary patients dependent on oxygen concentrators, some of whom cannot leave the hospital due to their reliance on oxygen. She proposed exploring sustainable solutions, such as home-based oxygen generation with backup power, to avoid fatalities during outages.
