Uganda is on course to start deploying the malaria vaccine in October this year, according to the Ministry of Health. Speaking at an earlier event, the Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng said, “We are ready for implementation of the malaria vaccine. It may be introduced at the end of next year and is mainly for children. It is not 100 percent effective but we appreciate that it could bring the burden of malaria down,” Aceng said.

Currently, Uganda spends a significant amount of financing towards the fight against Malaria, with a considerable portion of it derived from donor funds and other partnerships.

“We spend over US$120 million on malaria treatment annually with majorly donor support. We have also gone into partnerships with the private sector and Rotary who support various interventions,” the Minister added.

According to published reports, Malaria is responsible for over 30 percent of the total outpatient visits and 20 percent of all hospital admissions. A total of 20 million cases and a death toll of 30,900 people was recorded in 2020 alone.

Goal three of the 2000 Abuja Declaration, seeks to have good health and well-being with goal targets which include ending malaria epidemic by the year 2030.

Malaria is the leading killer disease in Uganda but efforts have been made by the Ministry of Health on sensitization of the public about malaria but one of the challenges is limited funding for interventions to deal with the disease.