Uganda to get 1million doses of malaria jabs

The Ministry of Health has said their request for malaria vaccines has been approved by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) ahead of the planned rollout next year. 
 Speaking in an interview in Kampala yesterday, Dr Catherine Maiteki, the deputy manager for the Malaria Control Programme at the ministry, said one million doses will be funded by Gavi for the country’s first round of malaria vaccination. The vaccine is codenamed RTS,S. 
 “The [malaria] vaccine is safe and effective in preventing severe disease. The vaccine will be given to children below five years. We will start at six months for the first dose, then the second dose at seven months, the third dose at eight months and the fourth dose at 18 months,” Dr Maiteki said.

  Malaria kills 16 Ugandans daily and causes an estimated annual economic loss of $500 million (Shs1.76trillion) due to treatment costs and work time lost, according to data from the Health Ministry and research reports.
 Dr Patrick Tusime, the commissioner for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention at the ministry, said at a meeting in Kampala yesterday that the vaccine will be one of the effective methods for taming poverty caused by malaria.
 Dr Tusiime said an average, Ugandan spends around Shs30,000 per malaria episode and many people experience one or more episodes annually .
 Dr Maiteki said yesterday that in the planned malaria vaccination in 2024, they will prioritise districts with high burdens and those with high numbers of children dying from malaria.

 “Our hardest hit places include Karamoja region, West Nile, Busoga as well as Acholi and Lango,” she said.
 The deputy programme manager appealed to the public to embrace the vaccine, saying it will work alongside other preventive methods such as sleeping under treated mosquito bed nets.
 “The vaccine doesn’t prevent malaria [infection], but when a child who has been vaccinated encounters malaria, their body is primed for the fight. The vaccine protection lasts for about one year,” she said.