The Ministry of Health has begun distributing Shs360 million worth of immunisation job aids to strengthen supervision and ensure consistency in vaccine delivery, weeks after more than 100 pupils in Ntungamo District were mistakenly given the wrong deworming drug.
The materials, developed under the Saving Lives and Livelihoods Phase II programme, were handed over on November 12 to guide frontline health workers and restore public confidence in immunisation and mass drug administration campaigns.
Dr Alfred Driwale, Commissioner of Health Services, Institutional Capacity Building and Human Resource Development, said the aids provide step-by-step guidance for health workers to avoid errors during vaccination sessions.
‘We acknowledge the public concern after the incident and have taken it as a wake-up call to tighten quality assurance. These job aids will help guide vaccinators step by step to avoid mix-ups and errors in future,’ Dr Driwale said.
He explained that the guides act as quick reference tools in busy clinics, helping staff plan immunisation sessions, store vaccines correctly, and administer them safely at the right site and age. ‘This is a strategy that has helped us in fighting various diseases; malaria used to be the leading cause of death among children, but pneumonia has now moved ahead, partly due to the success of immunisation strategies,’ he added.
Ms Rita Atugonza from the Vaccines and Immunisation Division said the aids were developed collaboratively with Ministry staff and partners to ensure quality across all vaccination points.
‘This handover is not merely symbolic; it reinforces regional efforts to build a resilient health system. These will be distributed to health facilities countrywide by National Medical Stores, with priority to districts that experience frequent outbreaks and host refugee settlements,’ she said.
The move follows the incident at Kajumbajumba Primary School in Ntungamo earlier this month, where over 100 pupils received incorrect deworming tablets, leaving many unconscious and at least 44 hospitalised, sparking widespread fear.
Dr Patrick Kagurusi, Director of Amref Health Africa in Uganda, said the aids underline the need for continuous support and capacity building for health workers, who form the backbone of Uganda’s immunisation efforts.
‘The recent errors in the field underscore why these materials are important. They simplify procedures and make it easier for health workers to follow standard guidelines. Our goal is to strengthen last-mile delivery so that communities continue to trust health interventions,’ Dr Kagurusi said.
He added that the aids represent a broader investment in preventive health, noting that immunisation remains far more cost-effective than managing disease outbreaks.