The districts of Madi Okollo, Maracha, Nebbi, Obongi, Pakwach, Terego, Yumbe and Zombo are among those reporting an upsurge of malaria cases with the majority of the cases being reported among children below five years.
Several districts in the West
Nile sub-region are recording an upsurge of malaria cases. Records indicate
that the sub-region has 23 percent malaria prevalence which is nearly three
times the national prevalence which currently stands at 9-percent.
The districts of Madi Okollo, Maracha, Nebbi, Obongi, Pakwach, Terego, Yumbe and Zombo are among those reporting an upsurge of malaria cases with the majority of the cases being reported among children below five years.
While delivering a report on the malaria burden at a regional stakeholder meeting held on Tuesday in Arua city,
Doctor Alex Andema, the director of Arua Regional Referral hospital, says that malaria has remained a major killer disease in the sub-region and the leading
cause of morbidity, especially for children below five years and pregnant
mothers.
He says over the past few months,
a number of the districts are recording a surge in malaria cases which he has
blamed on the current weather and stock-outs of malarial drugs in the affected
districts.
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The current upsurge in malaria
cases comes just a few months after the Ministry of Health (MOH) signed a new $40
million grant to popularize malaria prevention strategies in communities where
prevalence is still very high.
The project dubbed ‘PMI Uganda
Malaria Reduction Activity’ which is being funded by the US government through
USAID and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) seeks to reduce malaria infections
by 50 percent and malaria-related deaths by 75 percent in regions with highest
malaria burden in the next five years.
Dr. Jimmy Opigo, the Program
Manager, National Malaria Control Programme in the Ministry of Health, says West
Nile has been selected due to the fact that it shoulders the second highest malaria
burden in the country after Karamoja sub-region.
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But, Ben Anyama, the LC 5
chairperson Adjumani district says there is urgent need for an inclusive approach
towards malaria prevention in the sub-region if any tangible results are to be
realised.
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According to the Ministry of
Health -MOH statistics, fourteen people are still succumbing to malaria every day
in the country.
