The Fund has donated 5,000 Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing kits, reagents and accessories worth over Ushs 381 million to the Ministry of Health, of which Ushs 60 million has been contributed voluntarily by individual NSSF employees. Procurement is being undertaken in conjunction with the Uganda Virus Research Institute. Delivery of the kits is expected in the next few days.

NSSF Managing Director Richard Byarugaba said that the Fund is responding to a call by the Government and health experts that testing for the coronavirus is one of the most important steps in combating the spread. “Our decision to donate testing kits is informed by the model Government is employing in combating the coronavirus, which is an emphasis on testing as many suspected cases as possible, as well as their contacts”.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also emphasised the need to escalate testing for the coronavirus as one of the most important steps in combating the spread, given that a significant number of people who test positive are asymptomatic.”
The WHO also says that;

 Collection and testing of appropriate specimens from patients meeting the suspect case definition for COVID-19 is a priority for clinical management and outbreak control.

 Testing allows health services to quickly identify who has the disease and arrange for them to receive the care needed.

 Effective testing programmes allow governments and health authorities to understand how prevalent the disease is and how it is evolving.

 Tracking positive test results helps authorities make evidence-based decisions to try to slow the spread of the disease.
The acquisition of 2 mobile laboratories by Government for deployment at border points heightens the need for adequate testing kits.

“Given the advice from health experts, it is obvious that there is a critical need to test as many suspected cases as possible to control the spread of Coronavirus, hence our choice of donation,” Byarugaba added.

Innovating for Income disruptions
In addition to the above contribution, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity for the country to re-assess why social security needs to be at the forefront of our daily lives.

Through the Fund’s Innovations Programme, we have launched an internal challenge, specifically to answer the question: “How might the Fund help members and customers to proactively prepare for disruptions to their income streams in the event of untimely crises in the Post COVID era.?”

The Fund will be at the forefront of industry innovations to answer this challenge. We appeal to our members and the general public to observe directives and Standard Operating Procedures issued by the Government to enable our country to overcome this
the challenge at the earliest.