KAMPALA, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- 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 on Tuesday.

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 percent of Uganda's population, or 2.7 million people, remain chronically infected, according to the World Health Organization.

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. ■