03.29.20 Background Information

As of March 29, 2020, Uganda has registered 30 comfirmed cases of coronavirus.  The President, Mr. Museveni, announced a number of directives over the last week to minimize the spread of the infection. The ministry of health is largely seen to be leading the campaign against Coronavirus and their efforts, especially the dedication of the minister Dr. Ruth Achieng, have been appreciated widely by Ugandans.

In subsequent articles, we will be updating you with information concerning the current situation in the wake of coronavirus and the effects of the disease in all aspects of life. But first, let us look briefly at some of the facts about population, economy, life expectancy, and healthcare. We chose these areas because they are some of those that are directly affected by the current global pandemic.

Here are some of the population facts about the country: source>> https://www.worldometers .info/world-population/uganda-population/

• Uganda has a population of 45,362,800, with the capital city Kampala standing a 1,353,189 (2020).
• Uganda’s population is equivalent to 59% of the total world population.
• Uganda ranks number 31in the list of countries (and dependencies) by population.
• The population density in Uganda is 229 per Km2 (593 people per mi2).
• 7 %of the population is urban (11,775,012 people in 2020)
• The median age in Uganda is 7 years.

Economic facts: source >> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Uganda

• GDP:  $33.930 billion (nominal, 2020 est.), $113.476 billion (PPP, 2020 est.)
• Population below poverty line: 21.4% (2017 est.) 41.7% on less than $1.90/day (2016)
• Ease-of-doing-business rank: 116th (medium, 2020).
• During the reading of the annual budget for the financial year 2019/2020, the minister of finance stated that Ugandans had increased to US$ 825 per person in Financial Year 2018/19, compared to US$ 800 in 2017/2018 (Daily Monitor, Thursday, June 13, 2019)

Life expectancy: source >> https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/uganda -demographics/

• 7 years (life expectancy at birth, females)
• 0 years (life expectancy at birth, males)

Healthcare facts: 

• The total number of hospitals (public and private) in Uganda is 155. Of these 2 are National Referral Hospitals (Mulago and Butabika), 117 are Regional Referral Hospitals (RRHs) and 139 are General Hospitals (GHs). In terms of ownership, 65 are government-owned, 63 PNFP and 27 are private (Ministry of Health). This doesn’t include the hundreds of small private clinics scattered across the country.
• According to the Uganda Annual health sector performance report 2014/2015, Uganda had a total of 81,982 health workers employed in the health sector. The number of medical doctors was estimated at 4,811, accounting for 6% of the total health workforce in the country (WHO, October 2017).
• In the annual budget for the financial year 2019/2020, the health sector was allocated 6 trillion shillings (equal to USD 678,443,883 today). The Minister of Finance Mr. Matiya Kasaija stated that health worker staff attendance had improved from 51% in June 2016 to 93% in February 2019 in 20 pilot districts where biometric finger print readers are used to monitor staff attendance (Daily Monitor, Thursday, June 13, 2019)

In the next article, we will discuss the media coverage, how informed the people of Uganda are about the pandemic, what kind of information is being shared, and the response of Ugandans to it.