President Yoweri Museveni has proposed that salaries of medical workers should be exempted from tax, similar to the arrangement enjoyed by members of the security forces. Health Minister Dr Chris Baryomunsi disclosed the President’s guidance while briefing Parliament on Tuesday. He said the proposal will form part of a comprehensive health workforce paper that Cabinet has directed the Ministry to prepare. At the same sitting, Baryomunsi announced that Cabinet has suspended a controversial policy that sought to differentiate facilitation between government-sponsored and privately sponsored medical interns. All 2,490 interns in the current cohort, deployed across 77 accredited centres, will now receive the existing monthly facilitation of approximately Shs1.27 million (subject to tax), leaving them with a net of about Shs1 million. The earlier plan would have limited privately sponsored interns mainly to a meals allowance. “Cabinet recommended that we suspend that provision of facilitation for medical interns, meaning that we pay them as it has been,” Baryomunsi told MPs, drawing applause. The decision follows weeks of tension, protests and uncertainty among newly graduated health professionals who had resisted reporting for internship over the proposed changes. The Uganda Medical Association subsequently directed interns to report for duty after the government assurance. Cabinet has also dropped a proposal that would have required medical students to complete internship before graduating. Internship will remain a separate requirement for professional registration. Beyond the immediate intern issue, the Minister said government will review the broader challenge of absorbing the growing number of trained doctors and other health professionals into the public health system, including questions of how many the country needs to train and how their employment can be sustainably financed. The dual announcements — restoration of equal intern pay and the President’s tax exemption idea — come against the backdrop of persistent concerns about understaffing, low motivation and the loss of health workers to better-paying opportunities. Whether the tax proposal advances into actual policy will depend on further consultations and fiscal considerations. King Musah Media will continue following developments in the health sector workforce policy.