According to Dr. Tumuhimbise, the Hepatitis B vaccines will expire in December this year. He attributes the poor uptake of the Hepatitis B vaccine to the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that there is a slow response ever since the pandemic broke out in the country,
Sheema district health
Authorities have raised concern about the slow uptake of Hepatitis B vaccines.
Dr. Anthony Tumuhimbise, the In-charge of Vaccination in Sheema district, says
that they have only used 3000 of the 6500 Hepatitis B vaccine doses the district
received in 2019 from National Medical Stores-NMS.
According to Dr. Tumuhimbise,
the Hepatitis B vaccines will expire in December this year. He attributes the
poor uptake of the Hepatitis B vaccine on the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that there is a
slow response ever since the pandemic broke out in the country,
//Cue in: “bakabatuheire doses 6500 ...
Cue out: …tubaza
tuteze ogwa corona,”//
Dr. Dickens
Atwongyeire, the Sheema District Health Officer, says that they have noted a
reduction in the number of people turning up for vaccination since the pandemic
started.
//Cue in: “owugine nitubaza twakutreating…
Cue out: …kutera
akakatu aka,”//
Dr. James Wandera from
the Sheema District health department says that they requested the vaccine in
2019 when Hepatitis B cases increased in the district. “We had registered an
increase in the number of Hepatitis B patients when we requested for the
vaccine and people were receiving it well until COVID-19 outbreak”.
Hepatitis B
is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus that is preventable by
vaccination. The disease is spread by exposure to infected bodily fluids. A person suffering
from Hepatitis B presents with yellowing of the eyes, abdominal pain and dark
urine among others.
However, Dr. Wandera says some people, particularly
children, don't experience any symptoms.
