Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) is facing significant delays in completing a multi-billion-shilling anti-tick vaccine production facility.
This has raised concerns over the country’s ability to combat tick-borne livestock diseases.
The facility, located at Nakyesasa in Wakiso District, was expected to be completed by the end of last year.
Construction began in October 2022, with the government investing UGX 76.98 billion to build and equip the plant.
However, despite the delivery of key laboratory equipment, installation remains incomplete.
A report by the Auditor General highlights procurement delays, with three equipment contracts, valued at UGX 28.7 billion—taking nearly 18 months to finalise.
Two additional contracts worth UGX 9.25 billion have been delayed by over a year. As a result, vital systems, including electrical installations, air conditioning, and power generators, remain unused at the site.
While a vaccine inoculum seed production laboratory has been completed and equipped, field trials for the anti-tick vaccine TicVac-U have yet to receive approval from Uganda’s National Drug Authority (NDA).
These trials, originally scheduled for approval in May 2024, are crucial before the vaccine can be rolled out to farmers.
Developed by Makerere University scientists led by Dr. Margaret Kahwa, TicVac-U was expected to be mass-produced in 2022.
However, setbacks in completing the facility have stalled full-scale production, prolonging the financial burden ticks impose on livestock farmers.
Globally, ticks and tick-borne diseases cost the cattle industry between $13.9 billion and $18.7 billion annually.
In Uganda, losses exceed $1.1 billion each year due to diseases such as East Coast fever, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, and cowdriosis.
Farmers spend up to 80% of their total disease management costs on tick control.
Without swift action to complete the vaccine facility, the country’s battle against these deadly parasites faces further uncertainty.
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