The government of Uganda has aligned its core development goals under the umbrella of achieving universal health coverage (UHC) by 2025. The government is pursuing the UHC agenda specifically through the health sector planning framework, as well as the recent health financing strategy. The government is also keen on expanding promotive and preventive services for UHC, which will require investment in primary health care (PHC). Expansion of these services is significant, especially as the country faces a growing double burden of disease including noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and as HIV/AIDS, malaria, lower respiratory infections, meningitis and tuberculosis continue to lead mortality. Major inequities exist in the availability of health facilities, and the weak health workforce is a bottleneck for service provision.
Although the general government budget has increased over time, allocations to the health sector have not. In order to achieve UHC, the government can address many of these challenges through increased investment in PHC.