The Minister of Information, Communication, Technology, and National Guidance (ICT) Dr. Chris Baryomunsi has advised foreign countries to stop hoarding COVID-19 vaccines if they want to reduce the virus spread.

While addressing the Network of African Parliamentary Committees of Health (NEAPACOH) during a two-day conference at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala yesterday, Baryomunsi said Uganda has been facing challenges of acquiring vaccines ever since the outbreak of the pandemic

Baryomunsi said from a public health standpoint, it doesn’t make sense to vaccinate one corner of the world and leave the other corner unvaccinated because of virus mutations.

He said there will be a risk of the virus mutating and this will spread further thus undermining the efforts that had initially been put in place.”

“The western world should move away from vaccine nationalism. They should open up and let Africans vaccinate their people.”

“If we need to manage COVID-19, we are now aware that the best solution is vaccination and we need to work together with the world to see that we can overcome the virus,” Baryomunsi said.

He said this year’s meeting has been organised under the theme “Sustained Programs for the Achievement of International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) goals and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) during and post COVID 19 era: Role of Parliamentarians” which is a very timely and could not have been organized any later than now.

Dr. Chris Baryomunsi Interacting Dr. Jotham Musinguzi

Baryomunsi said the meeting provides an opportunity to assess for the parliamentarians themselves on how they have facilitated the implementation of the commitments amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic.

“We need to note that even when we were hit by COVID-19, the Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) needs of the Ugandans did not end.

A number of countries in the region have suffered the brunt of COVID 19 with poor maternal and child health conditions knocking on the doors and nothing has been done which has led to the increase in teenage pregnancies to shoot high with babies giving birth to fellow babies during the lockdown period,” he said.

The Director-General of the National Population Council (NPC) Dr. Jotham Musinguzi said Uganda has made modest improvements in the health indicators although we are not at the top yet.

There has been a progressive reduction in most of the mortality indicators over the previous fifteen years.  Under-five mortality rate declined from 90 in 2011 to 54 per 1,000 live births in 2016, Infant Mortality Rate (LMR) declined to 43 per 1,000 in 2016 from 54 per 1,000 live births in 2016, Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) declined from 438 per 100,000 live births in 2011 to 335 in 2016 and Life expectancy increased from 43 years in 1999 to 63 years by 2016, Musinguzi said.

He said as Uganda, they are eager to listen and learn from countries that have progressed in the implementation of the commitments.

“We are eager to know and learn what innovative practices you deployed that can potentially be replicated considering our country's contexts,” he said.

The Executive director of Partners in Population and Development Adnene Ben Haj Aissa said Africa countries share similar social, political, demographic, and geographic environments and south‐south cooperation has untapped potential for approaching new opportunities and sharing good practices in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).