Yesterday, April 2nd, was a huge step forward for the health of our children. Almost 2.3 million doses of the malaria vaccine are expected to be distributed throughout Uganda.
Yesterday, April 2nd, was a huge step forward for the health of our children. Almost 2.3 million doses of the malaria vaccine are expected to be distributed throughout Uganda.
This early stage targets 105 districts with high and moderate malaria transmission velocities and lays the foundation for a wider distribution. The country has secured a total of 3.5 million doses and plans to expand coverage in the subsequent phase.
“The malaria vaccine is a major milestone in the fight against disease and transforms malaria into a vaccine-preventable disease,” says Dr. Jimmy Opigo, deputy committee member of health services for the National Malaria Management. “It is a matter of life and death as it can turn to 5-10% of the population that may have malaria, especially non-immune children under the age of five, and vaccines are useful to prevent such a life-threatening situation among this group.
As of April 2025, malaria vaccines have been introduced into the daily vaccination schedule and are aimed at children under the age of 2. The first vaccinations were conducted at APAC in northern Uganda. The deployment provides important relief in a country where malaria is the leading cause of illness and death in young children. In Uganda, 20,000 children under the age of five die from malaria each year.
The Malaria Consortium will play an important role in supporting the deployment as part of the Send-Malaria Vaccine Initiative. Through this project, the Malaria Consortium is providing support to Uganda’s Ministry of Health and Vaccine Alliance Gabi. National Malaria Control Division, Uganda. Uganda is an Extended Vaccination Program (EPI); UNICEF; and the World Health Organization (WHO).
“The Malaria Consortium is proud to support the Ministry of Health in the deployment of Malaria vaccines in Uganda, a milestone in the fight against malaria. Our roles include strengthening our health systems, promoting community engagement to build vaccine confidence, and ensuring equitable access, especially in hard-to-reach areas such as Murajannuwa and Karamoja in Karamoja. “Working closely with local health authorities and communities, we are committed to making this life-saving intervention available to those who need it most, reducing the burden of malaria and protecting vulnerable populations across the country.” Community acceptability is important for the success of the vaccine, as broad trust and uptake is required to achieve meaningful reductions in malaria cases. In Karamoja, the Malaria Consortium has trained communications to train healthcare workers to deal with vaccine hesitations, and carried out sensitization work to prepare the public, including mobilizing communities to create demand for vaccines. These important messages form part of a public awareness campaign aimed at reaching more than 1 million people in Karamoja. This is about 80% of the region’s population.
“We need to encourage caregivers and parents to visit the facility via (a) visiting facilities so they can receive the malaria vaccine, but we need to remember that other interventions are still important,” he said, “Because with that complete package, we can reduce the impact of malaria disease in this country.”
The Malaria Consortium is actively supporting the Ministry of Health to develop communications materials for malaria vaccines and promotes translation into Karamojong to ensure accessibility and community understanding. Additionally, the Malaria Consortium supported the Ministry of Health to hold a district immigration meeting at the end of March to further strengthen local involvement. In April, the Malaria Consortium is training health facilities and local health workers at the sub-county level, as it has the knowledge and skills necessary to manage vaccines for frontline workers.
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Key elements of the rollout include integration with Uganda’s seasonal malaria chemical replication campaign to ensure a streamlined, effective implementation approach. Previous studies have shown that combined approaches lead to increased protection against malaria in young children.
Uganda’s malaria vaccine rollout marks a major step in the fight against illness, aiming to protect millions of young children. If successful, it could be a turning point in the country’s battle against malaria. A sustained commitment to vaccine access, community involvement and broader malaria control efforts is essential to ensuring lasting progress.
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