Uganda’s Silent Killer: Lawyers Join Fight Against Trans Fats as NCDs Rise
Shift Media News 
KAMPALA, Uganda May 10 [SHIFT MEDIA NEWS] The conference hall at Piato Restaurant fell silent when Dr. John Omagino, Executive Director of the Uganda Heart Institute, delivered a chilling warning.
“Your body was designed to live for 100 years without any organ replacement,” he told lawyers, journalists and nutrition experts gathered for a day-long training organized by the Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT) and the Uganda Law Society.
“But Ugandans are dying because of indiscipline. You must control what you eat, or government will come in with laws to control what goes into your mouth.”
The meeting was not an ordinary legal workshop. It was a wake-up call over Uganda’s rapidly growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), especially heart disease, stroke, diabetes and hypertension, many of them linked to unhealthy diets and industrially produced trans fats.
According to health experts, NCDs now account for more than 39 percent of registered deaths annually in Uganda, a trend doctors describe as a “time bomb” waiting to explode.
The training sought to equip lawyers with skills to draft and support laws targeting industrially produced trans fatty acids, which nutritionists say are silently poisoning many Ugandans through processed foods, deep-fried snacks, baked products and reused cooking oils.
Professor Archileo Natigo Kaaya from the Department of Food Technology and Nutrition at Makerere University said Uganda currently lacks strong regulations controlling the use of trans fats in food products.
“As we talk, Uganda does not have standards or regulations guarding against the usage of trans fatty acids, the leading driver of cardiovascular diseases killing thousands of Ugandans,” Prof Kaaya warned.
He urged Ugandans to return to natural foods and avoid what he called “dead food.”
“If you want to eat chicken, chase a live one, slaughter, cook and eat it instead of buying one that has spent months in freezers in supermarkets,” he said. “The same applies to chemical-concentrated juices. Just eat a raw mango or orange.”
The workshop followed a study conducted by leading Ugandan food scientists, including Prof Kaaya, Dr Charles Muyanja of Makerere University, nutritionist Bernard Bwambale of Consent Uganda, and Damalie Awuma, a student researcher at Kyambogo University.
Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that industrially produced trans fats contribute to more than 278,000 deaths annually, mainly from cardiovascular diseases. WHO says trans fats increase the risk of coronary heart disease deaths by 28 percent and overall mortality by 34 percent. (World Health Organization)
Industrial trans fats are commonly found in fried foods, baked products, margarine, processed snacks and repeatedly heated cooking oils. They increase harmful LDL cholesterol while reducing protective HDL cholesterol, gradually clogging blood vessels and increasing the risk of heart attacks and stroke. (World Health Organization)
Simon Ntegeka, Head of Professional Development at the Uganda Law Society, pledged the legal fraternity’s support in pushing for stronger food safety laws.
“The Uganda Law Society will stand with CEFROHT in this struggle,” he said. But it was the statistics from Dr Omagino that left many participants visibly disturbed.
He revealed that more than one in four Ugandans are suffering from NCDs, with over 80 percent unaware they are sick until complications emerge.
“People are walking around with high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease without knowing,” he said.
The cost of treatment, he added, is devastating for ordinary families.
According to Dr Denis Musoga, a senior nutritionist at the Uganda Heart Institute, open-heart surgeries at UHI cost between UGX18 million and UGX30 million, while other heart procedures range between UGX5 million and UGX15 million.
“This is not small money,” Dr Musoga said. “If one of you here develops a serious heart complication, your clan may have to sell land to raise the money.”
In comparison, open-heart surgery in India costs between USD5,000 and USD10,000 (about UGX18 million to UGX37 million), while similar procedures in the United States can exceed USD100,000 (more than UGX370 million), depending on the hospital and complexity of treatment.
Dr Omagino said government currently allocates about UGX62 billion annually to the Uganda Heart Institute, but the money is still insufficient to meet growing demand.
“The reason patients still pay heavily is because the funds are not enough,” he explained.
Even more alarming, he said, is the increasing number of children developing heart-related complications.
Out of Uganda’s estimated 1.6 million annual births, about 10 percent are born with heart complications, according to data shared at the meeting. Dr Omagino added that over 30 percent of patients diagnosed with heart-related illnesses are children, some as young as eight years old.
He blamed excessive consumption of oils, alcohol, salt, sugar, smoking and lack of physical exercise for the surge in cardiovascular diseases.
The doctors called for urgent policy interventions beyond hospitals.
Dr Omagino proposed laws requiring all new buildings to include physical activity spaces for workers, while schools should only be licensed if they provide playgrounds and sports facilities for children.
Nutritionists at the meeting also warned against excessive consumption of oily foods, especially foods deep-fried in reused cooking oil. Such oils often contain dangerous trans fats and oxidized compounds linked to inflammation, obesity, high blood pressure and heart disease.
The World Health Organization has repeatedly urged countries to eliminate industrially produced trans fats from food supplies, describing them as “toxic chemicals that kill.” (World Health Organization)
As the meeting ended, participants agreed that Uganda’s fight against NCDs will require more than hospital beds and expensive surgeries. It will demand stricter laws, public awareness and a cultural shift back to healthier lifestyles.
For many in the room, the message was painfully clear: what Ugandans eat today could determine whether they live long enough to see tomorrow.
