Uganda targets yellow fever with vaccination, travel limits

Uganda targets yellow fever with vaccination, travel limits

The East African country of Uganda has launched a national vaccination campaign against yellow fever.

The goal is for the country to protect its population against the viral disease. Yellow fever is spread by insects called mosquitoes.

Dr. Michael Baganizi is a civil servant responsible for immunization at the Ministry of Health. By the end of April, Ugandan authorities had vaccinated 12.2 of the targeted 14 million people, he said.

Baganizi added that Uganda will now require anyone traveling to or from the country to have a yellow fever vaccination card.

Ugandan officials hope the requirement will encourage more people to get vaccinated against yellow fever. Many people in Uganda are worried about getting vaccinated. This worries health care providers.

The vaccine involves an injection. It is available free of charge to Ugandans aged one to 60 years. There are vaccination centers in the capital, Kampala. Locations offering the vaccine include schools, universities, hospitals and local government buildings.

The Associated Press (AP) reports that before the current campaign, Ugandans usually paid $27 to get yellow fever vaccinations at private health centers.

Uganda has more than 45 million inhabitants. It is one of 27 countries in Africa considered to be at “high risk” of a yellow fever outbreak. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are approximately 200,000 cases and 30,000 deaths from this disease worldwide.

A Ugandan man holds a vaccination card showing he received the yellow fever vaccine, at Kiswa Health Center III in Kampala, Uganda, Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (AP Photo)

Uganda’s most recent outbreak was reported earlier this year in the central areas of Buikwe and Buvuma.

Yellow fever is caused by a virus transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes. Most infections do not symptoms. The WHO says symptoms may include high body temperature, muscle pain, headache, loss of desire to eat, stomach upset and vomiting.

Uganda’s vaccination program is part of a global effort launched in 2017 to eliminate yellow fever by 2026. This target was set by the WHO and its partners such as the United Nations children’s agency. The goal is to protect nearly a billion people in Africa and North and South America.

Last year, a study found that 185 million people in high-risk African countries had been vaccinated by August 2022.

In Uganda, most people get vaccinated against yellow fever when traveling to countries like South Africa. South Africa requires proof of vaccination upon arrival in the country.

James Odite is a nurse and works in a private hospital, which is also a vaccination center in one area of ​​Kampala. He told the AP that hundreds of vaccines remained unused after the yellow fever vaccination campaign closed. They could be used in a future mass campaign.

Some wonder if “the government wants to give them expired vaccines,” Odite said.

Baganizi said the Ugandan government has spent money on community “outreach” programs. In these programs, officials tell people that vaccines save lives.

My name is Grégory Stachel.

Risdel Kasasira reported this story for the Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in this story

immunization – v. give (someone) a vaccine to prevent infection with a disease

symptoms – not. a change in the body or mind that indicates illness is present

to vomit – v. getting food or liquid in your stomach out through your mouth because you are sick

eliminate – v. to get rid of something)

expired – v. no longer be valid after a certain time