The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Buikwe, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Minister of State for Animal Industry, Bright Rwamirama has commissioned a tsetse fly, trypanosomiasis resource centre at the Njeru based stock farm in Buikwe district.
The center which shall be manned by officials from the Uganda Trypanosomiasis Control Council-UTCC, will foster research on tsetse flies boosted infections among both humans and livestock.
The center will also accommodate a training facility, where students and scientists from both Uganda and the neighbouring countries can share knowledge on the different techniques applied in the reduction of tsetse flies related infections within the region.
The center will also serve as a standby laboratory and data bank, where electronic data concerning both tsetse fly species and control mechanisms can be easily accessed by members of the general public.
It shall also provide room for local tsetse trap knitting within the country with an aim of fostering quick supply to high-risk communities. Mandela Wangoola, a researcher with UTCC, says that they have achieved the World Health Organization-WHO target of eliminating trypanosomiasis infections within humans after registering only one mild case of sleeping sickness from Dokolo district in a period of 20 months.
Wangoola further said that trypanosomiasis infections among livestock are largely concentrated in Mayuge, Kalangala, Buvuma, Nakasongola, Kumi, Serere, Kiryandongo, Masindi, Buliisa, Ntoroko, Kasese, Dokolo, Kore, Nwoya, Amuru, Pader, Karenga, Amudat, Kabong, Kotido districts and areas surrounding Lake Mburo national park.
Charles Waiswa, the director of the coordinating office for the control of trypanosomiasis in Uganda says that they target to end tsetse fly related infections among livestock by 2030, through the domestication of control technologies.
Waiswa stresses that the ministry of agriculture has been importing 50,000 tsetse targets and 30,000 tsetse traps from Vietnam annually. He however says that with domestic tailors being trained to domesticate those technologies within the country, farmers will have timely access to tsetse fly control methods cheaply.
Rwamirama stresses that the agriculture ministry will increase the UTCC recapitalization fund to foster comprehensive research at the newly commissioned resource centre. Rwamirama adds that, on top of eradication of trypanosomiasis infections from the country, the resources center will be upgraded into a nationwide vector control centre.
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