From the launch of the National Cleaning Day campaign to strengthen disease prevention efforts, to the Minister of Health declaring Uganda Ebola virus-free after months of surveillance and response, the month was marked by key milestones in the health sector.
National Cleaning Day launched
The government launched the National Cleaning Day Programme on July 25, a fresh initiative which has attracted praise for cleaner streets in several areas while exposing deep systemic gaps in urban garbage collection and management.
While launching the initiative in Kampala last week, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja said this would be essential in preventing common diseases and ensuring a productive population.
Around 75 percent of diseases in the country are preventable, according to statistics from the government. ‘A clean Uganda cannot be achieved by the government alone,’ Ms Nabbanja noted, adding, ‘it requires commitment of every citizen.’
The Prime Minister said: ‘Let us embrace this initiative and make responsible waste management a national culture. Together, let us build a cleaner, healthier and more productive Uganda.’
Ms Nabbanja also announced that the National Cleaning Day will be observed every last Saturday of each month, with the activity running from 7am to 10am across the country.
All movement and non-essential activities in the country, except emergencies, are stopped, and this is enforced by security (Police).
But leaders of the Seventh Day Adventists (SDA) say the government should reconsider the earmarking of Saturday because it’s their day of worship.
The leaders say the scriptures do not permit them to engage in such activities, yet they also wish to participate in the cleaning event.
‘I wish to assure you (SDA members) that the Church leadership is actively engaging the government in a spirit of mutual respect to seek an amicable solution that upholds both the national objective and our constitutional freedom of worship,’ Pr Samuel Kajoba, the president of Uganda Union Mission, SDA, said in a July 24 statement.
‘Among the proposals presented is that Seventh Day Adventist members participate in the cleaning exercise on either Friday or Sunday, as may be agreed upon by both parties,’ he added.
But the government has not yet issued any formal statement to indicate an adjustment.
The government says on cleaning days, the members of the public are encouraged to take part in the cleaning exercise and resume normal activities at 10am.
The cleaning can be done around homes, on roads (unblocking drainage channels and sweeping the roads), clearing overgrown grass, cleaning markets and places of worship, among others.
Logistically, the government seemed ill-prepared for the event as heaps of cabbage were abandoned after the exercise was concluded, with some blocking roads and disrupting traffic in many parts of Kampala.
Uganda declared Ebola-free
On July 28, Health minister Dr Chris Baryomunsi declared Uganda Ebola free. The minister explained that the declaration was made after the mandated 42 days elapsed without registering any new infection from the time of the last discharge of a Ugandan Ebola patient from hospital on June 16.
The country had for the past over three months faced several international travel bans due to the deadly virus.
Information from the Ministry of Health indicated that a total of 20 Ebola cases were registered in Uganda since the outbreak in May.
Fifteen of the cases were imported into the country from the neighbouring DRC, according to the Ministry. Of the 20 cases, there were two deaths, while 18 of the patients recovered after successful treatment.
Health experts say the 10 percent case fatality rate is an indication of advancement in quality of treatment when compared to the previous two outbreaks of the Ebola Bundibugyo strain in Uganda and DRC.
In the previous outbreaks, death rates were between 30 and 50 percent among infected people.
Field visits
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Local Government started conducting unannounced visits to public health facilities and other infrastructure sites.
These visits, which are often accompanied by altercations between the Ministry officials and the health workers and videos being shared on social media platforms by State minister of Local Government Justine Nameere, have attracted mixed reactions in the general public and among health professionals.
Members of the public on social media said the initiative will address critical gaps in the sector like staff absenteeism and corruption, especially in health facilities, which increase waiting times and affect access to care.
Drug shops licensing row
A bitter regulatory battle between the Ministry of Health and the Allied Health Professionals Council (AHPC) over the legal mandate to license drug shops operated by dispensers.
The row stems from a ministry directive requiring AHPC to stop licensing drug shops, arguing that the National Drug and Health Products Authority Act, 2026, gives the National Drug Authority (NDA) exclusive powers to license premises dealing in medicines.
‘AHPC must cease and desist from licensing drug shops or premises dealing in drugs. Any allied health professional intending to operate a drug shop must first obtain approval from NDA,’ The Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary, Dr Diana Atwine, stated in a June 11 letter.
The ministry further warned that facilities found stocking medicines without NDA approval would be considered to be operating illegally. However, AHPC rejected the directive.
In its response by the chairperson, Prof John Charles Okiria, the council said it did not seek guidance from the ministry and insisted that its legal mandate to license dispensers’ health units remains intact.
AHPC argued that the Allied Health Professionals Act, Cap 296, and the National Drug and Health Products Authority Act 6, 2026, should not be interpreted as competing laws but as complementary legislation that assigns different responsibilities to different regulators.
‘Section 28(a) and other sections of the founding law remain operational because Parliament did not repeal them when enacting the new drug law,’ said Prof Okiria.