The Ugandan government has announced a massive recruitment drive to integrate 18,100 health workers into the national payroll after their jobs were threatened by significant funding withdrawals from the United States.
This strategic move follows a $2.3 billion health cooperation agreement signed on December 10, 2025, which mandates that the Ugandan government gradually assume full financial responsibility for medical staff previously supported by USAID programs over a five-year period.
The recruitment initiative is a direct response to a crisis triggered by a “stop-work” order from the Trump administration, which left over 18,000 professionals in a state of severe job insecurity. Agatha Byombi, a veteran health worker with 13 years of experience, noted that the withdrawal of funding had plunged thousands of employees into “extreme uncertainty” over the past few months.
Under the new transition plan, the U.S. government will continue to cover salaries and benefits for the affected staff for approximately two years, provided Uganda adheres to its commitment to manage the workforce independently thereafter.
To facilitate this transition, the Health Service Commission (HSC) has deployed teams across the country to verify the identities and credentials of the affected workers. The first phase of this validation exercise took place in Arua, Yumbe, Masaka, Kabale, Fort Portal, Moroto, and Gulu through March 13.
The second phase is scheduled to run from March 23 to April 2, covering Lira, Soroti, Mbale, Jinja, and Entebbe. Dr. Henry Mwebesa, Chairperson of the Commission, stated that the primary objective is to verify educational and professional records before submitting the final list to Dr. Diana Atwine, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, for final recruitment decisions.
This absorption effort is critical for addressing the massive human resource gap in Uganda’s health sector. According to an October 2025 report, only 48,113 (31%) of the 154,190 approved health positions in the country are currently filled.
