Uganda Heart Institute seeks contractor for new sh223b facility

______________

The Uganda Heart Institute (UHI) is sourcing a contractor to construct its new sh223b specialised home in Naguru, a Kampala suburb.

In May last year, the Ugandan government and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) sealed a deal to construct the 250-bed institute but the search for a contractor has delayed the project.

This is according to a report by the parliamentary budget committee on the National Budget Framework Paper for the financial year 2024/25 to 2028/29, which was approved with amendments on January 31, 2024.

The committee, which is chaired by Patrick Isiagi Opolot (Kachumbala County), reported that the signing of the financing agreement for the construction and equipping had been concluded by all three funders and the declaration of project effectiveness was done.

“Construction works will commence upon the procurement of a contractor. Currently, UHI continues to offer services at Mulago National Referral Hospital,” the report said.

In May last year, finance minister Matia Kasaija and the director general of BADEA, Dr Sidi Ould, signed the financing agreement for the construction and equipping of the new UHI on the sidelines of the 58th Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group at Sharm El Sheikh International Conference Centre in Egypt.

Finance ministry spokesperson Jim Mugunga told New Vision that BADEA will inject $20m (about sh74b) into the $60m (about sh223b) project.

He also said that other co-financiers are Saudi Fund for Development and the OPEC Fund for International Development, which will also provide $20m each.

The new institute will be established on a 10-acre piece of land and will provide cardiovascular care to more than 60,000 patients per year.

The $60m is a loan and will support the UHI by co-financing construction works as well as the purchase of medical and non-medical equipment and furniture.

Dr Charles Ayume, the chairperson of the parliamentary committee on health, said the facility will save them from “medical tourism” abroad.

“But most importantly, any of us can become a patient, and so we shall need these services,” he stated.

The UHI management says the space of about 1000 square meters of land they are currently occupying limits them from handling the increasing number of patients with heart diseases.

Dr John Omagino, the executive director of UHI, told the Dr Ayume-led committee on July 13, 2022, that cardiovascular deaths were on the increase, hence the need for improved super specialised services.