The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Frank Tumwebaze Wednesday afternoon told a Parliament sitting that the anti-tick vaccine being manufactured by scientists in Uganda has passed the clinical trial stage.

Tumwebaze also said that the anti-tick vaccine was found to be 80 percent effective, compared to the vaccine from Cuba that was approved for use at 50 percent efficacy.

The Minister said: “We were advised by the scientists that we shouldn’t keep updating at every stage some saboteurs may interfere.”

Adding: “But the good news is, the clinical trials have been conclusively done stands at 88 percent efficacy this is much higher than the only one vaccine on the market which was commercialized at 50 percent”

The Vice President, Jessica Alupo, had expressed discomfort complaining that the development of the anti-tick vaccine has taken long.

She said: “We have done budgeting for this item and we need to take into consideration that most of our country depends on livestock.”

In a related development, Tumwebaze presented to Parliament the Animal Feeds Bill for the First Reading. The Bill was then referred to the Committee on Agriculture for further management.

The Committee will then make a report within 45 days with advisory recommendations.

According to available information, the Bill seeks to provide the legislative framework for the operationalization of the Animal Feeds Policy by regulating the production, importation, exportation and marking of animal feeds and by establishing the Animal Feeds Committee to regulate the same.