Health workers in Kyotera District are struggling to improve childhood immunisation coverage in parts of Kabira Sub-county, where some members of a religious sect continue to resist vaccination, citing spiritual beliefs and mistrust of modern medicine.
Officials say followers of the Sserulanda Spiritual Foundation, founded by the late Joseph Mugonza, popularly known as Bambi Baaba Baabuwe, remain among the communities hardest to reach during immunisation campaigns.
The group is known for its emphasis on spiritual healing, prayer, fasting and herbal remedies, with some adherents reportedly rejecting government-led health interventions, including childhood vaccination.
‘It has completely hindered our work,’ Kyotera District Health Officer Dr Edward Muwanga said in an interview on June 16.
‘We are dealing with a group that deliberately isolates itself whenever immunisation teams arrive. Children who should be protected from birth remain highly vulnerable,’ he added.
Uganda’s routine immunisation programme requires children to receive vaccines against diseases such as polio, measles, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and rotavirus before the age of two.
Health experts warn that failure to vaccinate exposes children to preventable illnesses that can cause severe complications, disability or death.
‘Measles can lead to pneumonia and brain swelling, while polio may cause lifelong paralysis. These are life-threatening diseases, yet entirely preventable,’ Dr Muwanga said.
According to district health officials, some sect members avoid vaccination teams by remaining indoors or moving away from their homes during outreach activities.
‘Others become openly hostile. You cannot easily engage them, let alone convince them,’ Dr Muwanga said.
Ms Flavia Nabulya, the officer in charge of Ndolo Health Centre II, said vaccine resistance has complicated efforts to meet immunisation targets.
‘Our role is to provide services, not to force them. We immunise those who come willingly, but when a whole section of the community refuses, it affects public health,’ she said.
Some members of the sect defend their position, arguing that spiritual faith and traditional remedies offer sufficient protection.
‘Our faith teaches us that God created the body perfect. Introducing vaccines defiles that purity. We trust what our elders have always used…herbs and prayer,’ one member said on condition of anonymity.
A young mother from the group said she had never vaccinated her children.
‘I have never taken my children for immunisation, and they are strong. We believe diseases come when faith is weak,’ she said.
Health officials attribute such attitudes partly to misinformation about vaccines.
‘When immunisation coverage drops, diseases we had controlled can return. We risk reversing years of progress,’ Dr Muwanga warned.
Authorities have intensified community engagement efforts involving local leaders, religious leaders and health educators in an attempt to improve vaccine acceptance.
However, not all members of the Sserulanda faith agree with claims that the sect opposes immunisation.
Mr Charles Baguma, a longtime follower, dismissed the allegations and said members of the faith participate in government health programmes.
‘Those allegations are not true. We take our children for immunisation and we work closely with health workers like any other community. In fact, we have Rwabayambi Health Centre III, which provides medical services to our people,’ he said.
Mr Baguma argued that individuals refusing vaccination may not necessarily belong to the sect and accused critics of unfairly targeting the religious group.
‘We are educated, law-abiding and civilised people. Like everyone else, we want our families to be healthy and our children to have access to proper healthcare,’ he said.
Health officials say continued dialogue and community trust-building will be essential if vaccine coverage is to improve in the area.
For Kyotera’s health teams, the challenge goes beyond delivering vaccines. It is also about overcoming beliefs and misinformation that continue to stand between children and life-saving protection.