Malaria kills over 130 in Acholi as drugs run out
GULU– Malaria has reportedly killed 136 people in Acholi Sub-region due to the lack of drugs in the government health centres.
According to medical workers, there has also been an increasing number of malaria cases in the region in the last 10 months with Lamwo district registering 60,224 cases, followed by Agago with 55,841 cases.
Omoro District registered 47,039 cases, Pader 52,232, Amuru 46,139, Kitgum 44,219, Gulu District 31,651, Nwoya 30,929 and Gulu City which recorded the least cases with 25,625 patients.
Health officials add that malaria has remained the highest health care burden in the Northern region with a total of 394,217 patients diagnosed with the fever.
The data was compiled by Rhites North-Acholi, the development partner supporting health interventions in the region from October 2021 to the second week of August 2022.
Dr. James Abach, the Programme Coordinator of the Organisation told theCooperator in an interview that health facilities in the region are facing a shortage of drugs.
Without being specific, Abech revealed that some of the patients in the region are sharing drugs while others have to buy from private facilities.
Geoffrey Ojok, the Agago district community development officer noted that the patients have turned to local herbs as government health centres in the district have run out of antimalarial drugs for six months.
The Omoro District Chairman, Douglas Peter Okao has asked the government to provide the required drugs and other health supplies.
“The test kits for malaria and drug have run out of stock yet many people in the district are at the risk of catching malaria,” Oka told this reporter.
However, the Nwoya Resident District Commissioner, Christopher Omara blamed drug scarcity in the region on the theft of drugs within the health sector.
Despite having more than 30,000 cases of malaria registered in Nwoya, Omara noted that the district health department has not shared the information with the district leadership.
“I have been in Nwoya for four months now but I had not seen this [malaria] report until now. There is no data to guide decision-making as far as malaria is concerned,” Omara further explained,.
At St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor, malaria contributes to more than 50 percent of infant mortality, the highest factor of deaths of children in the region.
The hospital’s director, Dr. Emintone Odongo noted that most of the deaths were due to late referrals and poor antenatal healthcare given to pregnant mothers.
The USAID Chief of Party Project Implementation in Uganda, Benjamin Binagwa noted that the high malaria infant mortality in the region needs urgent attention.
He revealed that the US Government through the USAID project has put aside a grant of US$38 million under the US Presidential Malaria Initiative to fight the epidemic in the Northern and Bugisu regions.
The support is meant for the distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets to all pregnant mothers and children of 12 years. The five-year project, Binagwa said, will commence soon.
He further explained that the funds would be managed by the community-based organisations in each of the implementing districts in Bugisu, Acholi and West Nile regions, targeting about 13 million people.
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