Christopher Ayella, the team lead at the Medical Camp, told Uganda Radio Network in an interview that residents within the city are being offered free medical services at the medical camp in readiness for the national celebration.
Gulu City Council's health department has launched a three-day
medical camp aimed at combating malaria and enhancing public health awareness.
The initiative was launched on
Wednesday at Kaunda Parade grounds in Bardege-Layibi division as Gulu city
prepares to host this year’s national celebration for World Malaria Day
2025 on Friday. The national event will be marked under the theme “Eliminate Malaria Now”.
Christopher Ayella, the team lead
at the Medical Camp, told Uganda Radio Network in an interview that residents
within the city are being offered free medical services at the medical camp in
readiness for the national celebration.
According to Ayella, health workers are
offering free malaria testing, treatment, and prevention services, while other
services include testing for hypertension, diabetes, HIV/Aids and blood
donation.
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Ayella noted that the Health
Ministry selected Gulu city to host this year’s national celebration due to the
lower malaria incidence rate compared to other districts in the Acholi sub-region.
According to statistics from the
City health department, between January and December 2024, Gulu City recorded a
total of 526,955 Outpatient Department attendances (OPD) in all its health
facilities.
However, out of the total OPD
attendances, 77,523 were confirmed malaria cases, accounting for about 15
percent of all the OPD attendances. Ayella said while this remains alarming, it’s
still lower compared to other regions and praised the decline to the concerted
efforts put in place on sensitisation and early treatment.
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Dr Daniel Okello, the Gulu City
Health Officer, told Uganda Radio Network on Wednesday that the Health Ministry
allocated 46.7 million shillings to the city council to facilitate the budget
for hosting the national event.
He, however, said this has come with
a challenge, citing inadequate preparations since the city health department was
only informed a month ago by the Health Ministry. Initially, according to Dr Okello,
the national malaria day celebration was to be held in Mitooma district.
Dr Okello noted that the event is
expected to be graced by the Health Minister, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng.
Gulu Resident City Commissioner
Ambrose Onoria said the celebration will help to raise awareness among the
populace in Gulu city and neighbouring districts in the Acholi Sub-region about
the importance of preventive measures to reduce expenses on malaria treatment.
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Nationally, Uganda has the
world’s Highest malaria incidence rate of 478 per 1,000 population per year according
to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The disease also remains the leading
cause of sickness and death, responsible for up to 40 percent of all outpatient
visits, 25 percent of hospital admissions and 14 percent of all hospital
deaths.
Early this month, the Health
Ministry rolled out the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccination drive aimed at
combating malaria in children under five years.
