North private hospitals get Shs58 billion Italian support

What the report says

Italy has launched a €12.75 million health programme, worth about Shs58 billion, to improve maternal, child and cancer care in northern Uganda. The project, called Prevention, Research and Integrated Services for Maternal, Child and Cancer Health Care (PRISMA), is being implemented by AVSI Foundation Uganda with support from Italy’s foreign ministry and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.

According to the report, the three-year initiative will run until June 2029 and cover West Nile, Acholi, Lango and Karamoja. Organisers say it is expected to reach more than 500,000 people in areas that face limited specialist services and difficult access to health facilities, especially for pregnant women, newborns, young children and women needing cancer screening and treatment. The programme also aims to strengthen the Uganda Cancer Institute’s regional branch in Gulu and support services for cancers such as cervical, breast and childhood cancers.

The launch in Kampala brought together Italian and Ugandan partners including several foundations, Gulu University and the Uganda Cancer Institute. Speakers used the event to highlight wider funding pressures on private not-for-profit hospitals in the north, including high equipment costs, taxation and limited government grants. Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi said the government would look at issues such as tax waivers on medical equipment and staffing shortages.

The article places the project in the context of northern Uganda’s long-running health system gaps, which it links to past insurgency, shortages of specialists and continued pressure on facilities serving hard-to-reach communities.