World Malaria day: Gov’t focuses on strengthening strategies to reduce malaria
By Moses Ndhaye
As Uganda joins the rest of the world to commemorate World Malaria Day, the government says, it will focus on strengthening strategies to reduce the disease prevalence in the five regions with a high burden of malaria.
The Minister for Health Dr Jane Aceng says the regions with the high prevalence of Malaria include the West Nile region, Lango, Karamoja, Busoga, and Acholi regions.
She, on addition, they are also planning to introduce a Malaria vaccine for children below 5 years of age.
The vaccine will be introduced next year, as one of the strong interventions to reduce the malaria prevalence.
She underscored the need for the community to support the government in the implementation of the innervations being put in place to reduce malaria cases.
According to the Health Ministry, Uganda registers at least 16 malaria deaths per day with 25,000 cases.
Statistics also show that more than 400,000 people die of malaria every year, and 94% of these deaths occur in the African region, according to the World Health Organization.
In Uganda, the Malaria prevalence rate stands at 9%.
