Accessibility to Basic Healthcare Services and Its Implications on Maqasid Al-Shariah: A study of Muslim Community in Uganda

Abstract

This study examines the effect of accessibility to basic healthcare services on the welfare of Muslim community in Uganda and thus maqasid al-shariah. The study has used a survey, where questionnaires were distributed to 350 respondents. Descriptive statistic and factor analysis were used in the data analysis. The findings reveal that lack of physical factors such as poor public healthcare services, inadequate human resources and poor healthcare infrastructure; inability to afford private healthcare services; and inappropriateness in terms of low public allocation, high corruption in public healthcare sector and use of personal savings rather than health insurance scheme are the most significant factors that affect accessibility to basic healthcare services to majority of muslim community in Uganda. These negatively affect their welfare and thus the very basic elements of Maqasid al-Shari'ah, i.e. to protect life, remove hardship and improve social welfare. This study suggests that Muslim community in Uganda should explore the possibility of using waqfbased models such as cash waqf and waqf shares scheme to raise fund for the construction of waqf hospitals and centers. Waqf models are successful in some Muslim countries like Malaysia, where the use of corporate waqf model increases the accessibility of affordable and high quality healthcare services to Muslim community in particular and societies at large. This study is a pioneering work that examines the effect of accessibility to basic healthcare services in Uganda and its implications for Maqasid al-Shariah.