Uganda: Uganda Deploys Team to DRC to Contain Ebola

Kampala — Uganda is in final preparations of setting up Ebola treatment centers and a Laboratory in the Democratic Republic of Congo in a bid to assist the neighboring country bring the epidemic that has so far affected over 500 under control.

Ugandan Health Authorities revealed on Monday they had initially planned to deploy forty health workers in each of the two treatment centers in Aru Territory and in Kasenye in Ituri province, one of the most affected by the current epidemic involving the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus.

But a Ministry of Health official who spoke to URN anonymously because they are not authorized to speak on the current response revealed that they are also opening a Laboratory in Rwampara (Congo) before the end of this week. While they had only planned for two treatment centers and a laboratory, the source said that at a meeting held at State House on Monday, it was instead decided that they open four facilities.

Earlier, Dr Diana Atwine, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry had revealed to the press that the country was planning to deploy about eighty medics in DRC but added that they still lacked funds to proceed.

However, it's still unclear how much money exactly has now been put aside to finance this external deployment of health workers.

When URN put this question to the World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who is in the country to assess Uganda's readiness to respond to the ongoing Ebola outbreak and to support efforts aimed at strengthening cross-border coordination to prevent further exportation of Ebola cases from Congo, he couldn't put a figure to it too. Rather he said the organization was supporting the country in different ways including emergency medical training of health workers, providing personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other supplies to the health workers.

He said the organization had supported the training of over 140 health workers.

Now, on Monday, Dr Tolbert Geewleh Nyenswah, the Director for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response at the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention told journalists that the Africa CDC is also in Uganda to set up the continental incident support management team that will coordinate the global response to the outbreak.

He says they chose Uganda because the country has been a shinning example of how countries can quickly contain and halt life threatening incidents such as this epidemic.

While eighty-eight people had been confirmed dead of Ebola in DRC by Monday, Uganda has recorded one death of a medica