Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Home > Sectors > Health > Ugandan Taxpayers Lose Shs295bn In Unused COVID-19 Vaccines
HealthNews

Ugandan Taxpayers Lose Shs295bn In Unused COVID-19 Vaccines

State Minister of Health in charge of Primary Health Care, Margaret Muhanga, has called for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to curb the misinformation around the use of vaccines if they are to prevent the wastage of government resources.

Muhanga, who was speaking about the challenges that might face the newly launched malaria vaccine, said that the government bowed to political pressure and procured a lot of COVID-19 vaccines which couldn’t be used, costing the country up to 80 million dollars (UGX294.8bn) unnecessarily.

While the COVID-19 vaccine has since been incorporated into routine care for the population to access it whenever they want, Muhanga says the demand for it remains low, and fears the same hesitancy might affect the much-needed malaria vaccine if proper awareness is not done.

She says this is the reason the Ministry resolved to involve key opinion leaders, including cultural and religious leaders, to incorporate the malaria vaccine message in their interactions with their audiences.

The vaccine officially launched last week in Apac district is offered to children below two years. This age group remains the most affected by severe forms of malaria, with Ministry of Health figures showing up to sixteen people dying due to the disease every day, with the majority being children.

This vaccine, which will later be expanded to cover the whole country after being fully incorporated into the routine vaccine schedule, initially targets 1.1 million children who are given four doses starting at six months, then at seven, eight and finally at eighteen months of age.

According to Dr Richard Kabanda, who heads Health Promotion in the ministry, this time the plan is not to offer the vaccines under campaign mode, where they would immunize people at mass gatherings,s like it was for COVID-19 and other catch-up campaigns like measles, where they visit schools. While the vaccine has been available for sale in private facilities, Kabanda advises the population against accessing the drugs there.

Meanwhile, Uganda has made a major milestone with the general coverage of vaccines estimated at 85% nationally.

But, Muhanga, this milestone is facing a major setback with the growing challenge of mothers failing to honor the routine immunization schedule offered to them at birth, only for the children to contract diseases that could have been prevented later.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *