Looking at the high number of civilian patients flocking to seek medical services in army-established health units, there is a need for the government to consider allocating large sums of money to equip these facilities so that civilians can receive better services.
Many civilians across the country prefer seeking medical services from army-established health units due to the commitment of personnel in those facilities.
In most cases, government health facilities only operate during weekdays, and on weekends it is hard to find personnel attending to patients. This is different in army health units.
Army health units operate 24 hours a day, whether on Sundays or public holidays, and one always finds committed personnel attending to patients.
I also noted that in army health units, patients are treated equally regardless of their status—whether soldiers or civilians—as everyone is regarded as a patient.
There is no arrogance from army health personnel towards patients, compared to some personnel in government hospitals who behave unprofessionally.
The only challenge with army-established health units is the frequent shortage of drugs, since the civilian population shares supplies that were originally planned for military personnel. This calls for the government to inject more funding into these facilities so that civilians can access better services.
Another advantage is that these army-established health units are located within communities, unlike government health facilities which are often far away, especially in hard-to-reach areas like Karamoja and other parts of the country.
The writer is a senior veteran journalist.
