By Fred Kiva
The World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has commended Uganda's response in the fight against Ebola.
Dr. Tedros is in Uganda as part of the Organization's campaign to review progress made in the DRC Ebola response. He arrived in the country on Sunday evening and was received by Minister of Health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng who briefed him on the progress so far.
"This has been an incredible meeting where I have got an opportunity to learn, with pleasure, that, the Ministry of Health is on top of the Ebola response in Uganda, with immense support from the partners,” Dr. Tedros said in a tweet.
“I pledge my support to ensure that this outbreak is contained," he added. Dr. Tedros on Monday morning met Ministry of Health Uganda officials to discuss progress in the Ebola response. WHO has been able to mobilize US Dollars 18.4million, train health workers in the high-risk districts, beef up logistics, erect isolation facilities and most importantly convene the Ebola Accountability Forum, that has enabled all partners to share their work.
Ministry of Health confirmed the 6th Ebola outbreak in Uganda on June 11, with the first case being a five-year-old boy in Kasese, who had a history of travel to the Ebola-ravaged neighboring DR Congo. The boy together with his younger brother and grandmother who were the first three confirmed Ebola cases in Uganda have since died.
By yesterday (Sunday), Uganda had not registered any other confirmed Ebola cases, since the last death on June 12. According to the Ministry of Health, none of the 96 Ebola contact cases under monitoring, has shown symptoms of the disease.
“As of today, there is no confirmed case in Uganda, however, two suspect cases are admitted at Bwera Ebola Treatment Unit. We have listed a cumulative total of 96 contacts for follow up,” the Ministry said in its Ebola update on Sunday. Meanwhile, active case search and death surveillance continue in health facilities and communities, as the district response team continues to investigate all alerts.
