Baryomunsi Shocks Parliament: Alcohol Drinkers More Susceptible to Mosquito Bites

Dr Baryomunsi’s statement on malaria offered relief to worried parents

The Minister of Health, Chris Baryomunsi caused unease in Parliament when he revealed that people who drink alcohol are more susceptible to mosquito bites, than their counterparts that don’t consume alcohol.

He made the remarks during the 15th July 2026 plenary sitting, while presenting a statement on concerns raised in Parliament regarding the alleged breakout of a new strain of malaria in Uganda. The Minister ruled out a new malaria strain.

“If you are consuming alcohol, especially beer, you also attract mosquitoes. So, if I sit with you and I am taking juice, and for you are taking beer, and there are mosquitoes around, you will get more bites of mosquitoes compared to me who is taking water or juice, this is science. Why? There are factors; mosquitoes get attracted to the amount of carbondioxide you exhale. Number two, when you have raised the body temperature, that also attracts mosquitoes,” Baryomunsi said.

He added: “…people taking beer sweat a lot. Now, sweat, in that situation, both for pregnant women and even those taking alcohol, it has some chemicals, particularly lactic acid, uric acid, and ammonia, which attracts mosquitoes. This is evidence.”

The statement followed a concern raised by Andrew Kaluya (Kigulu South) regarding the deaths of 1earners at; Makerere College School, Mengo Senior Secondary School and Gayaza High School, which he attributed to a suspected new strain of malaria.

Responding to questions on why students in Kampala Metropolitan Area have become susceptible to severe malaria, Minister Baryomunsi attributed it the immunological profile of the affected population, saying that there is a well-documented epidemiological paradox that children growing up in these low-transmission areas are exposed to malaria parasites less frequently in early childhood, and therefore do not build up the same level of acquired immunity as children in high-transmission rural areas.

“Children who are in areas with a high dose of malaria, they develop immunity early enough, but those from areas where malaria is not of high prevalence, they don’t develop adequate defence systems in the body, and those areas include Kampala and greater metropolitan areas, and some highland areas like Kigezi, the Bugisu areas. You find that people do not have acquired immunity against infection because they are not exposed. So, that is the problem here we are facing, that the children affected had a low immunity because they are not exposed to malaria in their early ages,” remarked Baryomunsi.

During the debate, Sam Kavuma (UPDF Rep.) asked the Ministry of Health to investigate the various diagnostic results patients are receiving from the various medical facilities over the same signs and symptoms and urged MPs to sensitise masses on the need to do regular medical checkups.

He noted, “If you pick 10 people from this parliament, and you send them to the famous hospitals in Kampala here, you go to Mulago Hospital, they take your blood and whatever, they give you results. If you go to Nakasero and test for the same, different results, if you go to IHK, they give different results. Now, where is the problem? You have issues, they say it is pneumonia, mild pneumonia, they give you a sack of antibiotics. You finish them, the pain comes back, you go to another hospital, it is ulcers, they give you another sack of antibiotics.”

Kavuma asked the Minister to clarify on the different medical results patients are obtaining from hospitals noting, “So, my question is, is it the machines? Where do we buy these machines? Is it the people that read the outcome of the machines? Where is the problem? Please go back and sensitise and mobilise your people, the people you read, the people that elected you to come here to go for regular and periodic medical check-up. Number two prayer is, the Minister of Health should look at the diagnosis issue. What is the challenge?”