Malaria is responsible for over 30 per cent of the total outpatient visits and 20 per cent of all hospital admissions. The country also recorded a total of 20 million cases and a death toll of 30,900 people in 2020 alone, including over 70,000 children under the age of five
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Government to roll-out malaria vaccination of children under age of five in 2023. Photo by Dominic Ochola_URN
The Government will roll-out countrywide
malaria vaccination in 2023 as funding support from development partners
continues to dwindle, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng the Minister of Health, has revealed.
Dr. Aceng made the revelation
on Wednesday while responding to lawmakers’ prayers contained in a motion urging the Government
to strengthen her efforts to avert, control and eradicate the transmission of the
fatal parasitical disease.
“Government will implement the
malaria vaccination in children at the end of next 2023. It is not 100 per cent
effective but we appreciate that it could curb down the burden of malaria,”
Dr. Aceng said.
Adding
that, “The money that is spent on malaria is currently donor funded and from
partnerships. We spend over US$120 million, approximately Shillings 424.3
billion annually on malaria treatment with mostly foreign support from partners
such as Rotary Clubs.”
Dr. Aceng was responding to
motion moved by Dr. Timothy Batuwa the Jinja South County West Member of
Parliament imploring the Government to prioritize improvement of the health
budget to support the fight against malaria.
“Malaria is responsible for
over 30 per cent of the total outpatient visits and 20 per cent of all hospital
admissions. The country recorded a total of 20 million cases and a death toll
of 30,900 people in 2020 alone, including over 70,000 children under five
years,” Dr. Batuwa said.
He further added that, “Uganda
is a signatory to the Goal 3 of the 2000 Abuja Declaration that bestows duty
upon the member States to fight against malaria. The Abuja Declaration particularly
seeks to have good health by ending the malaria epidemic by the year 2030.”
Sarah Achieng Opendi, the
Tororo District Woman Representative observed that since malaria is the leading killer
disease in Uganda, this calls for committed efforts of the Health Ministry to have extensive mass sensitization.
Meanwhile, Fred Opolot, the Pingire
County legislator in Serere District rallied the House to first rack the
Malaria Control Bill, 2021.“This Bill needs to have a
chapter which will establish a fund known as the Presidential Malaria Trust
Fund Uganda whose objective will be to secure predictable and sustainable means
of procuring goods and services for malaria elimination as a public health
threat,” Opolot said.
Currently,
Uganda is encouraging households to sleep under an insecticide-treated mosquito
nets, use of indoor residual spraying and
administering oral medication among others as the best way to prevent mosquito bites.
In the 2022/2023 national budget, the Health Sector has been allocated 3.58 trillion, and of this, 1.03 trillion will go towards payment of wages, 928.400 billion for non-wage recurrent, 270.509 billion on development and 1.353 trillion is expected to come from external funding.
Journalist
Ochola's journalism career begun from Radio King 90.2 FM in Gulu around 2009, and Radio Rupiny 95.7 Fm under Vision Group in 2012. He also reported for Mighty Fire 91.5 Fm, Kitgum in 2015 before joining Wizarts Foundation in 2017.
He has been reporting for Uganda Radio Network (URN) since 2017 before being posted as Bureau Chief Kitgum, and latr Gulu between 2018 - 2021. Currently, he reports from Parliament.
