ABSTRACT
National Health Accounts (NHA) is a descriptive tool designed to estimate total health expenditure in the country. It gives detailed analysis of flow of funds from sources to funding to financial intermediaries; and from these to providers. In the NHA methodology; financing intermediaries are defined as theose entities; which have as their major roles the receipt; and expenditure and funds for health care functions or services. Examples include Ministries; private health insurance firms and private and parastatal employers on behalf of their employees. Providers are categorised according to the familiar topology of various discrete service delivery organisations such as MoH; Hospitals; and lower level units. This report presents results from a study of Uganda's National health Accounts for the fiscal 1997/98. It describes the flow of funds in Uganda's Health Care system for both public and private sectors. It is the first study on national health accounts in Uganda; and will hopefully be repeated annually. Using a comprehensive view of the health sector and standard definitions of entities and spending; NHA can provide valuable data for deceion-making in the health sector. The NHA analytical tool provides comprehensive data to allow for informed policy decisions; in general; and to measure real allocation of resources against stated priorities; in particular. The matrix approach requires that all expenditures from each source be allocated to specific uses (either by financing intermediaries or by providers) and that all spending on health services provision be traceable back to specific financing intermediates and ultimately to primary sources. Uganda's current population is estimated at 21.9 million; with an annual population growth rate of 2.5. its GDP per capita is $300. The current public health expenditure is at $4. This cannot finance the essential health package. The minimum health care expenditure recommended by the World Bank/World Health Organisation is US$12 per capita. The minimum health expenditure by an country. The demand for healthcare continues to grow; due to high population growth rate; and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. As a result; external sources have been predominant in financing health service delivery; and this raises questions of sustainability and affordability