Kampala, Oct 23 (IANS) Uganda has procured 500,000 doses of hepatitis B vaccines to be administered to children at birth and adults to combat and contain new infections, a public health distribution agency said here.

The hepatitis B vaccines will be delivered to public health facilities across the East African country to reduce the incidence of the virus, the Uganda National Medical Stores (NMS) posted on the X platform.

"Preparations are already underway for onward distribution to health facilities across the country," said the NMS, a government agency mandated to procure, store, and distribute medicines and medical supplies to government-owned health facilities in Uganda.

Sheilla Nduhukire, principal public relations officer at the NMS, said there has been a prolonged shortage of hepatitis B vaccines that affected vaccination campaigns.

"Hepatitis B vaccines have been received and restocked at the NMS following a prolonged global shortage as communicated by the manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India," said Nduhukire in a voice recording shared with the Press.

In 2022, an estimated 1,250 Ugandans died of the disease, and about 6 per cent of Uganda's population, or 2.7 million people, remain chronically infected, according to the World Health Organisation, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Ugandan Ministry of Health, with technical support from the WHO, has developed a strategy to control hepatitis B, including public awareness, testing, and treatment nationwide.

Hepatitis B can cause a chronic infection and puts people at high risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer. It can spread through contact with blood and other body fluids of a person who is infected.