THIS WEEK: 500 get Health Ministry scholarships

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | On Jan.04, the Ministry of Health signed scholarship agreements with over 500 students from 28 training institutions from across the country. The scholarships are intended to improve skills in the provision of Reproduc-tive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescent Health Services. The courses include but are not limited to: Masters in: Anaesthesia, Paediatrics, Obstetrics, General Surgery, Radiology, Pathology, Internal Medicine, and Laboratory Science. Bachelors include: Anaesthesia and Bio Medical Engineering. Other beneficia¬ries will pursue diplomas in Midwifery, Anaesthesia, Child and Adolescent Mental Health among others.

Dr. Diana Atwiine, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry said the recipients of the scholarships will be reviewed every year to see their progress in the studies. “We are going to require training institutions to formally submit to us prog¬ress reports on the students under your care along with an invoice at the end of each semester to enable us process payments due in time for the following semester”.

She said the Ministry of Health is bonding the ben¬eficiary students to serve the health sector in any part of the country for a period equivalent to the length of your course and that those that get retakes will not be paid for.

720 scholarships have been offered under this Shs7.94billion programme of which 184 were awarded in academic year 2017/18 and 536 have awarded this academic year 2018/19.