A consignment of medical supplies worth shillings 810 million has been handed over to Soroti district and city by Kampala city-based Rotary Club of Muyenga.

The consignment is part of the $1.2m (about shillings 4.4 billion) project being implemented in the districts of Soroti and Katakwi.

The project is supported by the Rotary Club of Muyenga, the US-based Rotary Club of Oklahoma City, Rotary International, World Vision International, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Malaria Partners International. The project is meant to eradicate malaria from Uganda specifically in Katakwi and Soroti where the prevalence is very high.

The consignment received on July 25, by the Soroti district health officer Dr. Charles Stephen Okadhi and Resident District Commissioner Salim Komakech, at Soroti district headquarters, is meant for the treatment of malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia for children aged below five years.

The support was delivered by Rotary Club of Muyenga director service projects committee Michael Mpiima and director membership Herbert Lubega.

Rotarians Steven Sekindi and Dr Catherine Kimbowa also of the Rotary Club of Muyenga, Rotary Club Soroti central president Tino Gertrude, Emmanuel Ekodeu, the Integrated Community Case Management (ICCM) focal person Soroti district local government and Faith Atai, the focal person for ICCM Soroti City, among others, witnessed the handover.

Kimbowa said the project was launched last year with support from the Rotary Club of Oklahoma City and explained that the Rotary Club of Muyenga was requested to help in the anti-malaria fight in the two districts. Katakwi earlier received $420,000 for the anti-malaria fight.

Kimbowa appealed to the stakeholders of Soroti district and Soroti city during the meeting to ensure the project is executed as planned. 

“We are expecting whatever is going on here is up to standard and to the expectations of the project,” she said.

Okadhi said the malaria situation in the district was alarming: “We have a very high positivity rate of malaria ranging from between 50% and 70% from July last year to Match 2023 as per the district statistics”.

He thanked the Rotary Club of Muyenga and the international partners for the assistance.

On government intervention, Okadhi said the district has just concluded the mass distribution of free mosquito nets to the communities.