Uganda: Anger Over Fake Hepatitis B Vaccine

Kampala — More Ugandans are infected with Hepatitis B than HIV, the virus which causes the dreaded AIDS. And both infections are spread the same way - through blood and other body fluids. Unlike HIV which destroys the immune system and opens up the sufferer to myriad infections, Hepatitis destroys the liver. And it generally kills faster than AIDS.

Until now, the good news has been that Hepatitis B can be vaccinated against. As a result many people have been flocking clinics to be vaccinated. Due the perennial vaccine stock-outs in most government health facilities, the vaccination has been done mostly in private clinics - for a fee which has been rising as demand increases. Initially, the full vaccination course, which comprises three injections spread over six months cost between Shs60, 000 and Shs90, 000 last year. Since early this year, when the media campaigns highlighting the Hepatitis B danger and the necessity to vaccinate intensified, the price jumped to between Shs90, 000 and Shs300, 000 and urban dwellers paid more than in rural villages. And counterfeits sprang up.

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