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Below One Percent: Can Community Schemes and SACCOs Close Uganda's Health Insurance Gap?

By Kaza Research Desk

24 June 2026 · 4 min read

Muduuma Health Centre in Mityana District
Most Ugandans still pay cash at the point of care. · Photo: Kateregga1 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Health insurance coverage in Uganda remains below one percent of the population, according to Dr Edrin Juuko, head of medical business at Old Mutual Uganda, writing in June 2026. He estimates that more than 70 percent of people pay for medical care directly whenever they fall sick. A Caesarean section in a private hospital, he notes, can cost between Shs1.5 million and Shs4.5 million, a bill few households can absorb.

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Sources & references

  1. Why you need health insurance: the Old Mutual Insurance perspective — Old Mutual Uganda, 2026-06-15
  2. The feasibility analysis of integrating community-based health insurance schemes into the national health insurance scheme in Uganda — PLOS ONE (Namyalo et al.), 2023-04
  3. A Cooperative Approach to Improving Healthcare in Uganda (final report) — HealthPartners, 2024-11-08

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