The Minister of State for Primary Health Care, Margaret Muhanga, has acknowledged the presence of Hepatitis C in Uganda and revealed ongoing collaboration with the Egyptian government to secure vaccines and treatment for the disease.

"Yes, I know about Hepatitis C. It isn't only in Adjumani," Muhanga stated during the plenary on Wednesday.

"We were promised in Egypt last year, and we were promised a vaccine for Hepatitis C. Actually, they had [a vaccine], and they have also found some treatment for it," she added.

Muhanga pledged to provide further details

"We were already in touch with the Ministry of Health of Egypt, who were helping us in the fight against Hepatitis C."

However, her claims sparked controversy after Nicholas Kamara, the Member of Parliament for Kabale Municipality and a medical doctor, refuted the existence of a Hepatitis C vaccine.

"The Minister of Health has said there is a vaccine for Hepatitis C, yet Hepatitis C doesn't have a vaccine," Kamara said, accusing the minister of spreading misinformation.

"This is wrong information. I don't know whether we are proceeding well with the Minister of a big Ministry of Health giving us wrong information that there is a vaccine for Hepatitis C."

In response to the backlash, Muhanga later clarified her remarks, explaining that her statement was based on observations made during a visit to Egypt.

"I said that when we visited Egypt, they were trying to do tests on how they can find a vaccine for Hepatitis C. That is what I said. So it is under manufacture or under trial," she explained.