Lango clan heads sensitised on Malaria Vaccines

By Joseph Okul

Hundreds of owitong (clan leaders) from the Lango Sub-region are currently gathered at Lira City Council Hall for a Malaria Vaccination and Routine Immunization Orientation organized by the Ministry of Health.

Rukia Nakamatte, the Behavioral Change Communication Officer at MoH, says the goal of today's symposium is to empower cultural leaders to mobilize their communities in support of the ongoing malaria vaccination drive. 

She emphasized that the program also aims to close the information gap at the grassroots.

Addressing concerns from the owitong, Nakamatte clarified that the malaria vaccine has undergone over 6,000 trials in eight years and was tested on three million children. Though it does not a full prevention formalaria, it significantly reduces the risk of severe illness and death among children under five according to the health ministry.

Uganda becomes the 19th country to roll out the vaccine, while research for an adult version is still ongoing