Uganda

The chapter highlights the cost of the pandemic by showing that the lack of recognition of existing inequalities and the needs of vulnerable and marginalized groups subjected them to a higher risk of infection and undermined the broader response to Covid-19. It is clear that Covid-19 disproportionately affected people who were already vulnerable due to comorbidities that are often a result of pre-existing social inequalities. But Covid-19 mitigation and policy responses have also entrenched them. The chapter shows that some response measures and their inadequacy hampered access to mitigation measures. It is recommended to decentralize resource allocation and proper targeting of the most vulnerable, namely, women, informal sector workers, people living with HIV and other diseases, pregnant women, children, the poor, refugees, and people living with disability.