KAMPALA, Uganda -                                       The United Kingdom has boosted Uganda's fight against malaria with Shs206b for a period of five years, the British High Commissioner to Uganda, Mr Peter West, said.

The funds that will be channelled through United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) will support 26 districts and build national capacity to respond to the disease.

“Investing in strategies to prevent and control malaria will save thousands of children from dying. And those children will be able to contribute to building a better future for Uganda....,”West said.

Mr West was speaking at the launch of the Target Malaria Insectary project initiated by the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), a joint press release issued by the UK government and Unicef indicated on Monday.

The main priorities of the funding include strengthening district health systems, building capacity to manage malaria intervention and improving access and uptake of malaria prevention interventions such as increased preventive treatment during pregnancy.

Others are increase in access and use of treated mosquito nets and improving diagnosis and treatment of malaria at community level.

The development follow government warning mid this month that revealed a rise in Malaria cases around the country.

Dr Jimmy Opigo, the programme manager for malaria control programme at the Ministry of Health, said the biggest malaria problem currently lies in West Nile Sub-region with the highest cases and deaths per population.

“For the north, the IRS (Indoor Residual Spraying) used in 2017 has lost its strength. Government is now hurrying with efforts to distribute new mosquito nets starting early 2020,” Dr Opigo said.

He attributed the high malaria prevalence in the northern region to low mosquito net usage, poor housing facilities, sleeping in groups and poor healthcare seeking behaviour, among other challenges.

The World Malaria Report 2018 indicated that Uganda registered an increase of more than 100,000 malaria cases between 2016 and 2017. The report also indicated that Uganda accounts for 4 per cent of malaria cases in the whole world.