Dr. Linda Nakato from EPRC’s Macro Economics Department, says that their assessment shows that the proportion of the population living below the national poverty line grew from 8.5million people in 2019 to a 9.6million in 2021 as a result of the pandemic.
Of the five countries analyzed in the study whose results were released on Tuesday, only Nigeria has out of pocket hospital payments below 25 per cent of the total household non-food expenditure. Other countries including Uganda, Malawi, Ethiopia and Tanzania had expenditure on health above the 25 per cent threshold.
Freddie Ssengooba, a Professor of Health Economics and Health System Management, says government should prioritize indoor insecticide residual spraying just like the use of mosquito nets.
Experts warn without careful planning, this population structure might drive Uganda, one of the countries with the highest growth rate considering that the global average is 1.2% into high levels of poverty and conflict.
