East African Medical Vitals (EAMV), Uganda’s first manufacturer of powder-free latex surgical gloves, has confirmed its Silver Sponsorship of the 13th Kabaka’s Birthday Run, contributing Shs 10 million to the event.
The cheque was handed over by EAMV Managing Director Brian Kavuya to Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga at Bulange, Mengo.
The handover reflected a deeper alignment between Uganda’s private sector, cultural institutions, and national development goals.
Uganda’s Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV), covering 2025/26–2029/30, emphasizes sustainable industrialization, job creation, and socio-economic transformation.
Its objectives include increasing production and value addition, enhancing human capital, supporting private sector-led growth, building strategic infrastructure, and strengthening governance.
According to officials, EAMV’s sponsorship touches several of these priorities in a single event.
The company’s locally manufactured gloves replace imported products, contributing to value addition and import substitution. The run mobilizes more than 130,000 participants around public health awareness, particularly in the fight against HIV/AIDS, reflecting investment in human capital.
At the same time, EAMV channels private sector resources into community health initiatives, showing how companies can actively support national development.
Founded by entrepreneur Brian Kavuya with significant financing from the East African Development Bank, EAMV operates a factory in Namanve Industrial Park, Mukono, producing roughly 95 million gloves annually.
Since producing its first glove in 2021, the company has grown into a regional supplier serving East and Central Africa, holding ISO 13485:2016 certification for medical devices and Q-Mark certification from the Uganda National Bureau of Standards.
At full capacity, EAMV meets about 70 percent of Uganda’s domestic surgical glove demand, reducing lead times from three months to just three to five days. A ten-year government off-take agreement covers 30 percent of the national glove market, while a second production line launched in early 2025 has expanded capacity and created hundreds of jobs.
“This is precisely the type of enterprise NDP IV envisions—factories using local raw materials, promoting exports, and substituting imports,” said Kavuya.
The 13th Kabaka’s Birthday Run carries the theme “Men for Good Health to Save the Girl Child and the Fight to End HIV/AIDS by 2030.”
Men remain a significant transmission vector, while adolescent girls and young women bear a disproportionate burden of new infections. Uganda has made progress: adult HIV prevalence fell to 4.9 percent in 2024, and new infections declined 61 percent from 2010 levels.
However, over 4,700 babies were still born with HIV in 2024, underscoring the need for continued awareness and prevention.
“The Run is not just a health message,” said Katikkiro Mayiga. “It is a development argument: healthy citizens are essential for sustainable economic growth.”
NDP IV estimates that Shs 593.6 trillion will be required over five years, with the private sector expected to contribute about Shs 180.4 trillion.
According to officials, sponsorships like EAMV’s Shs 10 million may seem modest, but they exemplify how companies can create jobs, strengthen industrial capacity, and support public health at the same time.
“Our sponsorship shows we have our communities at heart,” Kavuya said. “Corporate engagement in health and development goes beyond philanthropy.”
The 13th Kabaka’s Birthday Run is scheduled for Sunday, 12 April 2026, starting from Lubiri, Mengo. Race kits are available for Shs 20,000, with race categories of 21km, 10km, and 5km.
