Bites from mosquitoes, that carry viruses of mosquito-borne diseases are quite common between dusk and dawn. The number one killer on Uganda, the World Health Organization estimates that nearly half the world's population is at risk of malaria.
A number of methods and means have been undertaken to combat the mosquito-borne disease in Uganda.
Besides stocking medical facilities with drugs that treat those affected by the malaria virus, governmental and NGOs have also designed rigorous sensitisation campaigns to highlight preventive measures.
Apart from these, messages that encourage people to sleep in a mosquito net, clear bushes and stagnant water around houses have also become common.
Determined to create an intervention for malaria, a report in Daily Moniter says that Joan Nalubega has created an innovative mosquito repellant soap under the brand name Uganics.
An essential ingredient in daily life that helps clear dust, sweat and grime from the human body, the soaps, containing ingredients that repel mosquitoes that cause malaria, it has become an imporant discovery in the fight against the mosquito-borne disease.
The report further adds that the mosquito-repellent soap, which lasts up to six hours, can be used for clothes and linen as well as personal hygiene for the same effect.
Speaking to Prosper Magazine, Malubega said the creation was motivated by her ordeal of frequently suffering from malaria while growing up. Nalubega further narrated that she was upset seeing foreigners who came to Uganda having means of protecting themselves against malaria, but the locals were the most vulnerable and had no solutions to the disease. Following interactions with several people on how malaria affected them, Nalubega started by giving awareness campaign messages about malaria in local communities. She partnered with hospitals and further linked her institutions like Makerere University plus others in Denmark and Germany.
These interactions helped Nalubega acquire knowledge about addressing the challenge -- by blending repellants in soaps.
According to her, she did so because soap is one essential product used by everyone.
The target market for Nalubega's Uganics is usually mothers with children who are below five years in rural communities. They are also marketing through hospitals and are working with 28 hospitals in three districts of Mpigi, Hoima and Soroti.
Uganics makes pricing especially affordable in local communities but charge a premium fee in hotels. The margin of profit they receive from there is used to discount the rates for mothers.
Uganics has a certificate from the National Drug Authority has boosted their market. They are now trying to get a Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) quality mark to reach the supermarket and shops in the country.
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