A Critical Study On The Existing Legal Frame Work On The Consumer Protection In Medical Services In Uganda

A priority of health care policymakers in Uganda is to ensure that the vulnerable groups of people (particularly women of child birth, the poor, elderly, and children) have access to high quality health services. Policymakers try to ensure that access in terms of distance (or time taken) to a health facility and cost are affordable to these groups and therefore not a deterrent to health service utilization. Consequently, a sizeable proportion of public resources may go to construction of additional health structures directed at decreasing distance travelled to health facilities· and increase the likelihood that these health services will be used. Perhaps what should be noted is that a mere presence of services within a reasonable distance (as a result of standing structures) is not enough to ensure use of those services. Likewise, monetary cost, which is usually mentioned as the major barrier may not always be a deterrent to access and utilization of health services. It is not uncommon therefore to find that many individuals, mainly those using government facilities in developing countries such as Uganda will not use available health services even when they are free or nearly free. One of the explanations for this is the perception that government facilities are of low quality and are of low efficacy.