Govt to vaccinate children against malaria

KAMPALA- The State Minister for Health, Hon. Margaret Muhanga has revealed that government plans vaccinate children against malaria.

Muhanga made the revelation during a plenary sitting on Tuesday, 16 August 2022 chaired by Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa.

“If we do not vaccinate our children again malaria, then we are allowing this killer disease. We lost about 24 children to malaria in June this year,” she said adding that, ‘a vaccine has been manufactured to control malaria especially in children. Government is working with other governments abroad that are producing the vaccine’.

She said this while responding to a matter of national importance raised by Kilak South County MP, Hon. Gilbert Olanya on the high prevalence of malaria in Acholi sub-region.

Olanya said that a report by the Malaria Indicator Survey revealed that 360 children below 15 years died of malaria in July 2022.

He called on government to take the issue of malaria seriously citing the death of 18 children to the disease in Amuru district in the month of July.

Olanya added that malaria prevalence in Acholi greatly declined between 2010 and 2013 when government was carrying out indoor residual spraying but later became high when government stopped the programme.

“The spraying of homes proved to be effective at the time it was being carried out. I pray that government considers resuming indoor residual spraying to reduce the rate of malaria in Acholi,” Olanya said.

Muhanga said the Ministry of Health raised a red flag on the raising cases of malaria deaths in May 2022 noting that the highest prevalence was recorded in Busoga.

“The malaria deaths had many implications that the children who got the disease were lacking blood,” she added.

Muhanga noted that indoor and outdoor residual spraying is done in homes, however, the mosquitoes resurface within a week of spraying.

“If we can fight the anopheles mosquito that spreads malaria, then we will rid ourselves of the malaria disease,” she said.