A mass vaccination campaign against yellow fever is being planned by the Ministry of Health, under the Uganda National Expanded Programme on Immunisation (UNEPI) in Kabale, Kabarole, Lira, Gulu, Arua, and Hoima districts.
The vaccination program, according to Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the senior public relations officer for the Ministry of Health, will target people between the ages of nine months and 60 years.
Ainebyoona said in a statement that the campaign will take place from June 9 to 13, 2023.
The Health Promotion and Education Division (HPE&C) and UNEPI also intend to organise an orientation meeting with media workers at the national and regional levels in the six districts, though, as part of the campaign preparations.
Uganda was one of 14 African nations that confirmed yellow fever cases in 2022.
Yellow fever is transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti or Haemagogus mosquito species and outbreaks in Uganda originate mainly from sylvatic, or jungle, transmission. Mosquitoes acquire the virus by feeding on infected primates and then bite humans during agricultural and other activities in forested areas. Humans can then carry the virus to other areas, including urban centres, where it is spread by mosquitoes from human to human.
It can cause serious illness and, in up to 30–60 per cent of severe cases, death according to experts. Currently, there are no specific therapeutics to treat the disease, but early supportive care increases survival rates.
Forty countries globally, 27 in Africa and 13 in Central and South America are classified as high-risk for yellow fever. Since September 2021, 13 countries in the who African Region have reported probable and confirmed yellow fever cases and outbreaks, including an ongoing outbreak under close investigation in neighbouring Kenya.
According to the World Health Organisation, Uganda is endemic for yellow fever and is classified as a high-risk country in the Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics (EYE) Strategy.
The country has a history of outbreaks reported in 2020 (Buliisa, Maracha and Moyo districts), 2019 (Masaka and Koboko districts), 2016 (Masaka, Rukungiri, and Kalangala districts) and in 2010 when ten districts were affected in Northern Uganda.
