Uganda News

24th November 2008. The Minister of State for Health Dr Emmanuel Otaala has called for strong cross-border surveillance for Guinea Worm disease saying it is one of the sure ways to eradicate the diseases. Speaking at the opening ceremony for the Inter-regional meeting for Guinea Warm eradication programmes held at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala, Dr Otaala said that “we cannot achieve eradication working as individual countries – we need to work as a group.”

When cases of Marburg haemorrhagic fever were recently identified in a remote mining area in western Uganda, WHO and the Ugandan Ministry of Health immediately began an intense surveillance and response effort. They were supported by scientists and medical experts from the Uganda Virology Research Institute (UVRI), the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa and the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

In Uganda, about 1 percent of the total cost of tobacco-related illnesses are attributed to tobacco use and the direct cost of treating tobacco attributable illnesses is estimated to be 108.05 billion Uganda shillings (USD 41.56m).

These are some of the startling results of a study, “The Health Cost of Tobacco in Uganda” that was launched by Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, the Minister of Lands and Housing, at a breakfast meeting hosted by the Ministry of Health to commemorate World No Tobacco day 2017. The theme for this year is “Tobacco – a threat to development”.

The President of Uganda H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni launched “The Presidential Fast-track Initiative on ending HIV&AIDS in Uganda by 2030.” This is the first such initiative in Africa and the entire world.

13 April 2004, Kampala -- The out-going WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Ebrahim M. Samba has advised whoever takes over from to continue the "hard work, be credible, transparent and confident". He said this early April in Uganda while attending the International Summit on Nutrition and Food Security.