Uganda’s Health Ministry is mourning the death of two people who died on Sunday after the vehicle they were traveling in was involved in an accident.
According to reports, the vehicle, a Prado TX registration number UAM 049E, was returning from Buikwe district where they were distributing mosquito nets before the driver lost control forcing it to overturn.
There were three occupants, the driver Isaac Mukasa who died on spot, another occupant was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital, the only survivor, a one Ronald a laboratory officer has been admitted at Mt Elgon hospital in critical condition. He is undergoing MRI and CT scan to ascertain the condition. He sustained clavicle bone fracture.
The Health Ministry recently commenced the distribution of free insecticide treated mosquito nets across the country.
Diana Atwine, permanent secretary at ministry of health flagged off the distribution of the long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets to districts across the country, under the third universal coverage campaign.
“We are starting with districts that were affected by flooding in eastern region and northern Uganda that have recorded higher cases of malaria,” said Atwine.
“We will be distributing over 27 million nets to all districts in Uganda. We expect to complete this exercise by the end of this calendar year,” she added.
The countrywide campaign that was meant to kick off in April was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were not able to start as scheduled because of the lockdown but now that it has been partially lifted, we can continue as planned,” said Atwine.
Under the free mosquito net distribution, the ministry targets to have all citizens sleep under a mosquito net every night to prevent malaria.
Malaria kills between 70,000 to 100,000 people in the country annually, mostly pregnant mothers and children, according to the ministry of health figures.
The country has made notable progress in the fight against malaria, with the disease prevalence rate dropping from 19 percent to 9 percent, according to the 2018/19 Malaria Indicator Survey.
The progress has been attributed to the continuous distribution of mosquito nets, case management, and indoor residue spraying.
