Stakeholders in the fight against malaria have made a clarion call to Members of Parliament to give precedence to malaria prevention in the next budgeting cycle.

The call was made at a high-level advocacy engagement with MPs, on gender-responsive malaria and health services, on Tuesday, 18 November 2025 at the Parliament Conference Hall.

According to Peter Mbabazi, the Board Chairperson of the Malaria Youth Champions Uganda (MYCU), the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) ought to be updated to include malaria as a precondition for budget approval.

He observed that the recent cut in donor aid has greatly affected malaria-elimination interventions in the country, and reiterated the need to avail sufficient local funding for the purpose, especially through the malaria prevention and control code.

“Malaria is no longer a health issue but also a development issue. Members of Parliament are directly affected when their constituents succumb to this disease. We must take this a priority and solve it, because Uganda can no longer rely on donor aid to curb malaria,” Mutabazi said.

He added that funding for efficient ambulance services for local communities also needs to be improved, to enable them access health facilities in a timely manner, during emergency situations.

“Our people are dying of malaria because of the time lag between a malaria episode and its treatment. As you (MPs) deliberate the next budget, consider more ambulance units and allocation of fuel to run them,” Mutabazi noted.

A Gender Equality Fund (GEF) community scorecard issued at the workshop indicated that there was limited ambulance management and services, little or no availability of prescribed medicines at health facilities, and poor responsiveness to community health needs, among the challenges.

The data was collected from communities living near Nakavule Hospital and Nalugai Health Centre III in Iganga and Bukedea districts, respectively.

Dr Hilda Namuddu, Team Lead at Malaria Youth Champions Uganda, said the scorecard seeks to promote data visibility and accountability mechanisms, to support guidelines for required interventions in addressing malaria prevalence in Uganda’s communities.

“We have challenges in communities that are beyond our reach and cannot be addressed solely by our team. This is why we require the buy-in of our Members of Parliament, to take a big step forward,” Namuddu said.

Hon. Emmanuel Otaala (NRM, West Budama County South), said the Ministry of Health needs to front several strategies together to curb malaria in Uganda, on top of available malaria treatment and prevention tactics.

“We also need to restore public confidence in the public health system, because many patients tend to seek healthcare services from private health facilities which, come at a high cost for them,” Otaala added.

Rukungiri Municipality MP, Hon. Elisa Rutahigwa, commended the efforts of the Malaria Youth Champions Uganda team, and urged them to engage Parliament through its different channels.

“The challenges that have been highlighted, have been persistent. The youth can add their voice to fighting malaria by petitioning Parliament on the issue of health insurance and funding,” said Rutahigwa.

Hon. Richard Oseku (NRM, Kibale County) called for the deployment of doctors at health centre IIIs to ease access to health services, whereas Bwamba County MP, Hon. Richard Gafabusa urged government to emulate strategies of countries like the United States, in eliminating malaria.