Uganda News

The World Health Organization has provided the Ugandan Ministry of Health with a set of 2,400 tests to strengthen the country's response to Monkeypox through rapid laboratory identification of cases.

These kits are among the first Monkeypox laboratory tools received in the country and will be used by the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) to begin testing for the disease.

The Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) trained over 70 emergency responders, including managers, national trainers, and rapid response teams, on rapid deployment and operational response to public health emergencies at the Nile Village Hotel in Jinja.

The Ministry of Health has received an additional 2,800 oxygen cylinders and 48,172,700 syringes from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany to support the continued fight against COVID-19 and other health complications in the country.

The Ministry of Health in Uganda, the World Health Organization (WHO), and members of the Civil Society conducted a series of activities in Entebbe municipality in Uganda to commemorate World No Tobacco Day 2022 under the theme “Protect the Environment”.

Activities included awareness-raising among over 4,750,000 community members on the negative impact of tobacco on health and the environment; Cleaning up tobacco Cigarette butts in the Entebbe market and Mass screening for some diseases caused by Tobacco, including diabetes and high blood pressure.

Op-ed - The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced. Tobacco kills more than 8 million people every year, and around 1.2 million of these deaths are due to exposure to second-hand smoke. This is far greater compare to deaths due to COVID-19 and it has been going on for decades.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has handed over three generators worth UGX 571,220,522 purchased with financial support from the Government of Denmark through Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) to the Ministry of Health to ensure steady supply of power for the oxygen plants and medical response in Gulu, Jinja, and Kabale Regional Referral Hospitals. 

The generators provided are a response to the need observed in the country during the peak of COVID-19 pandemic, when the country was hit hard by the rapid rise in the number of people in need of oxygen.

Kampala – As a community educator on child abuse and gender-based violence, Amos Ojandu often responds to domestic violence incidents in his local district of Yumbe in northern Uganda.

“My neighbour used to fight with his wife every day because he suspected her of cheating on him. When she refused to have sex with him, he would beat her in front of the children and kick her out of the house,” he recalls, describing how he would plead with the husband to allow her to return home.

Op-ed - The effects of climate change are clear and already being felt around the world. Occurrences such as heat and cold waves, floods, droughts, hurricanes, storms, and other extreme weather events have a direct impact on health. They cause injuries, heart attacks, trauma, and infectious diseases.

WHO estimates that more than 13 million deaths around the world each year are caused by avoidable environmental causes. Air pollution from burning fossil fuels kills 13 people every minute from lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke.

The Ministry of Health, and the World Health Organization (WHO) convened a high-level advocacy meeting to rally development partners and other government sectors to support the achievement of the commitments made by the country at the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference (COP26).

Kampala, 19th April 2022: - The Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Tree Adoption Uganda (TAU), joined hands to commemorate World Health Day in a tree-planting exercise, in line with the day’s theme, “Our Planet, Our Health”.

Through the “Our planet, our health” campaign, the Ministry of Health and WHO highlighted the need to address the dangers of climate change while also urging the public to take steps to protect the planet, their health and prioritize the well-being of societies.