Health ministry moves to contain malaria outbreak

The health ministry has deployed staff and distributed drugs in Iganga District, eastern Uganda, in an effort to contain a malaria outbreak which has killed more than 30 people, AFP reported on Wednesday. AFP quoted Uganda's medical services director, Francis Omaswa, as saying that 50 percent of people living in Iganga District had been diagnosed with malaria. "All health units have now been supplied after logistical bottlenecks were removed three weeks ago," he said. Omaswa acknowledged that the outbreak was linked to drug shortages, as many communities in the area had no access to stocked health centres.

The health minstry's director for communicable diseases, Sam Okware, told AFP that the lack of health facilities for people living near the centre of the outbreak, where the nearest health centre was some 17 km away, had exacerbated the problem. "The majority of these people are poor and cannot afford some of the simple drugs on the market," Okware said.