By Our Reporter
Sexual Minorities Uganda, an NGO that advocates for the protection and promotion of human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Ugandans, has released a report on Health Care Discrimination for Uganda’s Sexual and Gender Minorities.
Authored and researched by Austin Bryan, Research Fellow at Sexual Minorities Uganda, the report is based on in-depth interviews conducted with in the LGBTI community in Kampala from 2015 to 2017, as well as activists, researchers, journalists, and government officials in the Ministry of Health.
According to the CIA World Factbook, about 390,000 individuals of Uganda’s total population are sexual and gender minorities. In addition, a 2016 study of 3,000 Ugandan University students found that about 1 in 3 students reported having been “in love with someone of the same sex,” while nearly 1 in 5 reported being “attracted to someone of the same sex”.
The report indicates that despite this, no government funding is directly allocated in the health sector budget for reaching sexual and gender minorities as a key population, with funding almost exclusively from NGOs.
It adds that sexual and gender minorities face several barriers in accessing health services including: non-inclusive policies and programming, knowledge and attitudes of health service providers, and all forms of discrimination against LGBTI persons.
Furthermore, the report found that although the Ministry of Health, in response to Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014, issued guidelines for non-discrimination of sexual minorities at all health facilities, it has not gone far enough to make sure they are actually followed.
Due to the discrimination while seeking health services, and accounts of discrimination towards LGBTI persons, the report says many sexual and gender minorities avoid going to hospitals or health clinics altogether. According to the report, this has put the general population of Uganda at a higher risk for general health concerns when compared to the rest of the world, and especially at risk for epidemic diseases such as HIV.
Read the full report here.
