In the heart of Uganda’s central region, in the rolling farmlands of Mubende District, a quiet but determined wave of change is sweeping through villages, homes and health-centres. Thanks to the joint efforts of the Ministry of Health and and partners including Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS), the district achieved a remarkable vaccination coverage of 91% of all individuals aged 1 year to 60 years during the 3rd phase of the national yellow fever campaign, a milestone reached not through technology alone, but human connection and mobilisation.
At Butoloogo Health Centre III, midwife Nakato Rehemah recalls how she always struggled to convince grandmothers and some mothers, worried about side-effects, to bring their grand children and children respectively, for vaccination. Now, thanks to a team of URCS volunteers knocking on doors and radio talk shows together with health officials, the same grandmothers and mothers waited at the health Centre with confidence and passion to have their grandchildren and children vaccinated.
“URCS volunteers dedication has transformed my ability to encourage community participation,” Nakato notes.
In Kangulumira village, Mubende district, Christine Nannono a URCS volunteer and member of the village health team remembers how the rapport she built with the community helped her convince a grandmother to get their granddaughter vaccinated against yellow fever. “In the evening, I listened to the radio messages about the upcoming yellow fever vaccination campaign, the next day I walked to Butologo Health centre III and made inquiries about yellow fever and the vaccination campaign in my parish. Having gotten the details, I started moving house-to-house, sensitizing about yellow fever and mobilizing them to get vaccinated.
During the process, I encountered questions including challenging ones. I was always in touch with health workers at the health Centre who always guided me whenever I encountered complex question.
In Kagulumira village, I was challenged by Agnes Nabawanuka an elderly lady who lives with her granddaughter. Agnes indicated that at her old age, she never got vaccinated yet she is still alive, and therefore sees no reason why she should subject her dear granddaughter to the said vaccination.
With the help of health workers, I was able to explain to her why her granddaughter needs to get vaccinated not only against yellow fever, but also other vaccine preventable disease. Three days into the vaccination campaign as I was moving to the trading Centre, Agnes called me to her home as I was passing by. She told me to wait outside, she entered her house and came back with a yellow fever vaccination card for her granddaughter. She told me that she had taken the grand daughter to the health facility and got vaccinated. I felt so proud that my efforts contributed to convincing the grandmother to have her granddaughter vaccinated.” Nannono recalls with a smile.
Behind the 91% coverage lies dozens of such conversations, not with scientists but neighbours, friends, local leaders.
The 3rd phase of the national yellow fever campaign was conducted in 17 districts from Busoga and Mubende region. URCS through the saving lives and livelihood phase 2 program supported demand generation through social mobilization in seven out of the seventeen districts. These included Mityana, Kassanda, Kiboga, Mubende, Kyankwanzi, Nakaseke and Nakasongola. While each faces its own terrain and logistical challenges, Mubende stands out as it exceed the target coverage of 90% yet it has a poor coverage of lower health facilities with the highest level being a health Centre III limiting access to vaccination services.
The URCS Mityana Branch Manager, whose branch also covers Mubende District, attributes this success to strong grassroots mobilization and joint coordination efforts. “Our URCS volunteers worked hand in hand with village health teams, community elders, faith leaders, and local radio stations to promote the message of immunization,” he highlighted.
Nayepe further explained that the strengthened community-based surveillance and social mobilization systems that the National Society has built over time have enabled timely alerts, engagement, and outreach across Uganda’s rural communities.
During a week-long supervisory visit, District Health Officer Dr. Bob Sekyanzi pointed out that the success wasn’t simply about turning up doses “It was about trust, conversation and presence. Having someone from the village who knows you, calling you, walking with you.”
Funded by the Mastercard Foundation through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the Saving Lives and Livelihoods Phase II (SLL 2) is advancing a broader goal of life–course immunisation services. That means not only childhood vaccines, but immunisation at every stage of life, against multiple diseases, anchored in strong community systems.
This initiative complements URCS’s epidemic-preparedness agenda, which emphasises risk communication, community-based surveillance and social mobilisation.
Dr. Suudhi Bamutya, Manager for Epidemics and Pandemics Preparedness and Response at the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS), emphasised the importance of community-rooted initiatives.
“Our greatest asset is the presence of volunteers embedded within communities, people who understand the rhythms of village life, the faith and opinion leaders, and the language of the mothers. When you mobilize through them, when you walk alongside families, the vaccine becomes part of the conversation of hope, not just a shot in the arm.”
He adds that Uganda’s recent outbreak responses have meaningfully shaped the systems now being applied by the National Society.
“We prepared not only for COVID-19, Ebola, Mpox, and Anthrax, but also for everyday health threats. That preparation enabled us to pivot, adapt, and engage with confidence. In Mubende, what you see is the outcome of that readiness, brought to life through human engagement and six decades of URCS service to humanity.”
For policy-makers, funders and humanitarian planners, the 91 % rate in Mubende signals a key lesson: vaccination campaigns succeed when infrastructure meets relationships. The outreach radios, SMS alerts, door-to-door canvassing and trained URCS community based volunteers are the scaffolding but the real bridge is trust.
For families in Mubende, it means fewer sleepless nights worrying about yellow fever. It means more children growing into healthy adolescents, more parents confident in public health services, more volunteer teams empowered to serve their own communities.
And for Uganda’s future, it casts a vision: where a National Society like URCS is not only responding to emergencies, but actively nurturing health-resilient, connected communities in villages, sub-counties and beyond.