Cabinet Restores Medical Interns’ Allowance, Orders Review of Internship Policy

What the report says

Cabinet has reversed an earlier decision to withdraw facilitation for medical interns, restoring a monthly gross allowance of Shs1,268,929 for the current cohort. According to the Nile Post report, State Minister for ICT Alion Yorke Odria announced the move at the Uganda Media Centre on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, saying interns will take home about Shs1 million after tax. The payment will apply equally to interns from government-sponsored and private institutions, and Cabinet said the arrangement will run from August through the end of the year.

The decision follows weeks of pressure from medical professionals and lawmakers after the government moved to scrap internship support and change how internship fits into medical training. The Ministry of Health had already deployed more than 2,400 interns for the 2026/27 cycle, which began on August 3, 2026 and runs to July 31, 2027. The earlier policy had proposed different treatment for government and privately sponsored interns and suggested internship would be integrated into university education.

Cabinet has also ordered a broader seven-month review of the country’s internship and medical training framework. The review will involve professional councils, universities and several ministries, and is expected to examine financing, regulation, graduation requirements and the link between academic training and clinical practice.

The report says the reversal provides short-term relief but does not settle the longer-term structure of internships, which remains a major issue for Uganda’s health system and staffing of public facilities.