In an effort to address the Malaria deaths in Uganda, the government of China has donated over 500,000 packs and doses of anti-malarial medicines to Uganda worth Five billion Uganda Shillings (UGX 5bn).
Speaking during the handover of the Anti-malarial medicines at the National Medical Stores Headquarters at Kajjansi, the Chinese Ambassador to Uganda, H.E Zhang Lizhong, disclosed that the donation is a rapid response to the urgent request of the government of Uganda to address the rising cases of Malaria patients last year.
“Ugandans are our good brothers, good partners, and good comrades. We enjoy a long tradition of helping each other. The two sides may explore joint research of herbs, develop and market herb medicines to combat viruses and achieve win-win co-operation,” Ambassador Lizhong revealed.
He added,
Both China and Uganda may work together to develop the digitalization of health infrastructure in Uganda. We shall support Uganda in establishing a platform for connecting the data among the hospitals and achieve digitalization of health information in Uganda.
Dr. Jimmy Opigo, the Head, Malaria Control Program in the Ministry of Health disclosed that Malaria remains a big problem in Uganda and that the Anti-Malarial medicines will be accounted for strictly so as to eliminate Malaria in Uganda.
Dr. Medard Bitekyerezo, the Board Chairman, National Drug Authority (NDA) thanked the Chinese government for the donation and emphasized that the Anti-malarial drugs are very effective and highly efficacious. Dr. Bitekyerezo urged Ministry of Finance to continuously support Ministry of Health so as to have a parasite-free population so as to increase productivity.
Dr.Jotham Musinguzi, the Chairman Board National Medical Stores (NMS) thanked the Chinese government and Government of Uganda for the collaboration that will ensure that National Medical Stories has enough drugs to deliver to Ugandans especially when it comes to Malaria.
On his part, Finance Minister, Matia Kasaija underscored the need to fight the rampant theft of medicines at different health facilities and called for harsher sentences for suspects involved in the theft of government medicines.
On her part, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, the Minister of Health thanked the Chinese government for the generous donation of the anti-malarial drugs and added that they will be extremely useful in the response against Malaria and it’s control, especially in the prone areas.
We thank the Chinese government for the generous donation of the anti-malarial drugs. Uganda is at a high risk of Malaria due to the climatic conditions and Uganda is the third highest contributor of Malaria globally following Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Uganda is also the seventh contributor of Malaria death globally, Minister Aceng disclosed.
She added,
The most affected population include children under five years, pregnant women, people with the immune-deficiency condition, Rural and hard to reach population especially those in the lower economic status and refugees, and most recently children between 5-15 years.
At the peak of the epidemic in July 2022, over 75 districts were reported as having Malaria epidemic and as a result there was a demand for anti-malarial drugs with some districts requiring up to four times the previous quantified amounts. We request for more support because the donation will only cover four districts out of 149 districts.
According to Ministry of Health, Uganda registers 12 million cases of Malaria every year and over 600,000 are admitted and 5000 die every year due to Malaria.
