Commemorating World Malaria day - 2018

TASO Grants Management Unit (GMU) was part of the Malaria Day commemoration in Mpigi district on 25th April 2018. The theme for the day was "Ready to beat malaria. My Mosquito net. My night time weapon". Representing the Minister for Health as Guest of Honor was the State Minister for General Duties, Ms. Sarah Opendi who said that,

"Fighting malaria is priority for the Government as the country spends over 500 billion shillings annually in management of malaria cases and a household spends averagely 30,000 UGX on a single episode of malaria."

Ms. Opendi also shared that results from the mid term review of the Malaria Reduction Strategic Plan 2014 - 2020 showed that while significant gains had been made in the fight against malaria, more had to be done hence a call for individual responsibility among the population to participate in the Mass Action Against Malaria (MAAM) campaign. 

In April 2018, the Uganda Parliamentary Forum for Malaria was launched to advocate for Members of Parliament as champions for malaria at the national level. This would be cascaded downwards to the sub county, parish, schools, villages and eventually households. 

TASO GMU team put up an exhibition stall where they shared information about the role of TASO in the fight against Malaria through the Global Fund activities. They also printed and shared t-shirts for the day, participated in the march past parade and supported a team of VHTs they trained in Mpigi to carry out malaria testing and referrals in their communities. 

Point to note: TASO is synonymous with HIV Testing Services and the need for HIV testing is still high. During such functions TASO should endeavor to carry out both HIV testing alongside whatever service is required of them.