UGANDA— The Ministry of Health Uganda has planned to carry out the Yellow Fever Preventative Mass Vaccination Campaign in six regions across the country.
Uganda will conduct the vaccination campaign with support from the Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics (EYE) strategy and its key partners.
The partners comprise the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF), and the Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI).
The EYE strategy aims to build a global coalition of countries and partners to tackle the increased risk of Yellow Fever (YF) epidemics and it’s targeting 40 countries that are considered most vulnerable to YF outbreaks (27 are in the African region).
The Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunisation (UNEPI) in preparation for the campaign, organized a media practitioners orientation meeting on the yellow fever vaccination campaign.
The Assistant Commissioner in charge of Health Promotion, Education, and Strategic Communication, Dr. Ocaatre Miria Ronald highlighted the objectives of media orientation.
The objectives include creating awareness of the Yellow Fever Preventative Mass Vaccination Campaign and enhancing publicity and visibility of the campaign on national, regional, district, and community levels.
Dr. Ronald added that the orientation also sought to solicit support from the media in covering activities related to the vaccination campaign in various districts and ensure accurate and objective reporting on the Yellow Fever preventative vaccination campaign.
The Commissioner in charge of Health Promotion, Education, and Strategic Communication, Dr. Richard Kabanda emphasized the importance of the media in promoting good health.
Dr. Kabanda, “We rely on the media to engage with the public. The aftermath of COVID-19 showed a growing concern about misinformation and disinformation, stressing the need for constant media engagement such as today’s event.”
The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Diana Atwine was keen to inform participants that the campaign aimed to control and prepare the population if there was an outbreak of Yellow Fever.
“Yellow Fever has the potential to kill but the good news is, it is preventable by vaccination. The target population during this campaign are individuals aged 9 months to 60 years old,” Dr. Atwine said.
Dr. Diana Atwine noted that all the preparations including procurement of vaccines, creating awareness and response, and vaccination units had been completed.
Dr. Atwine disclosed that 1.4 million doses of the vaccines were in the country and a budget of US$7.5 million had been set aside by the health ministry to facilitate the whole endeavor.
Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the Senior Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Health said that the vaccines are free of charge and will be conducted voluntarily at door to door.
UNEPI Program Manager, Dr. Michael Baganizi said that the campaign is designed according to the global availability of Yellow Fever vaccines, resource availability, and district readiness.
“Therefore, this campaign will be carried out in a phased manner. Phase I will be implemented in June 2023, followed by Phase II in October 2023 and Phase III will take place in early 2024,” Dr. Baganizi informed.
The first phase of the exercise will target 51 districts in the Lango, Acholi, Rwenzori, Ankole, West Nile, and Bunyoro sub-regions.
Yellow Fever endemic in Uganda
WHO notes that Uganda is a high-risk country for yellow fever transmission due to less than 10% of the population being immunized against it, with sporadic outbreaks occurring every 3 to 5 years.
Additionally, the recent confirmed cases have been reported from near urban areas, such as Kampala.
Around 24% of Ugandans, approximately 11 million people, live in urban areas with roughly half of those living in slums.
Often urban outbreaks of yellow fever occur in densely populated areas with low population immunity and often with poor sanitation and can have catastrophic consequences.
Yellow fever is transmitted by the Haemagogus mosquito species and outbreaks in Uganda originate mainly from sylvatic, or jungle, transmission.
Mosquitoes acquire the virus by feeding on infected primates and then bite humans during agricultural and other activities in forested areas.
Yellow fever infections can cause serious illness and, in up to 30% to 60% of severe cases, death according to experts currently, there are no specific therapeutics to treat the disease, but early supportive care increases survival rates.
UNEPI observed that Uganda is currently classified as a yellow fever endemic high-risk country by the World Health Organization, however, it still has a low immunity population.
However, Uganda is on track to Eliminate the Yellow Fever Epidemic by 2026, and vaccination is one of the main strategies to ensure this happens.
Towards accomplishing this ambitious target, the Ministry of Health introduced Yellow Fever into the Routine Immunization Schedule i.e., Integrated Child Health Days (ICHD) activities in October 2022.
Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero, Uganda’s Minister of Health, “We want to ensure that our people are protected against this high-threat disease, and vaccines remain the main tool we have to efficiently prevent and contain yellow fever outbreaks.”
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