MPs to lead anti-malaria walk

Members of Parliament, to be led by the Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, will walk on streets of Kampala to raise awareness about malaria.
The walk is slated for April 23.
The lawmakers, under their umbrella body, the Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Malaria, have unveiled the walk and a 20-day campaign, ahead of World Malaria Day, marked every April 25.

Addressing journalists at Parliament today, the shadow Minister for health and Jinja West Municipality MP, Mr Timothy Batuwa, said the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) report revealed that malaria is the leading cause of ill health in Uganda.
The report, according to Mr Batuwa indicated that children under 5 years of age, pregnant women and people living with HIV/AIDS are the most vulnerable to malaria.

“Given the worrying situation posed by the increasing number of malaria cases in our population and associated deaths and economic distress, the time for action is now,” Mr Batuwa said.
He added: “The major essence of this Walk is to raise awareness among the public by asking them to accept interventions put in place by the government. We shall also mobilise them to accept indoor resident spraying and to sleep under the mosquito nets that have been distributed by the government.”
He also said some of the activities to be held during the 20-day campaign include a health camp at Parliament.

Ms Stella Apolot, the Ngora District Woman MP, has urged colleagues, local leaders and other stakeholders to embrace the campaign.
On January 24, the Ministry of Health listed 48 districts that have been heavily burdened by the malaria epidemic. The districts are in the sub-regions of Bugisu, West Nile, Busoga, Acholi and Lango and Karamoja. They included Mbale, Buyende, Bududa, Pader, Iganga, Moroto, Dokolo, and Lira.

Dr Patrick Tusiime, the Commissioner of Communicable Diseases Prevention and Control at the ministry, who released the list, said: “Malaria is a top killer of our people and it kills about 14 people per day which amounts to 400 people per month.”
He noted that the ministry had embarked on, among others, mass sensitisation and distribution of 28 million bed nets in selected areas.