Ebola: Over Sh292b spent in tackling the disease

The world health organisation representative in Uganda, Dr. Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam, said the funding was earmarked by a number of donors including individual countries and United Nations agencies that made contributions to various initiatives including surveillance, contact tracing, and treatment.

Tegegn made the remarks during the Ebola virus disease outbreak response accountability forum in Kampala.

He said the organisations that received the funding for the fight against Ebola will provide accountability and will be released.

Tegegn also said although giving accountability is important, he is happy that the country has managed to control the disease and people’s lives have been saved.

Today Uganda and its stakeholders will be holding an event in Mubende district to declare the country Ebola-free after spending 42 days without new cases of Ebola being reported.

Kassanda and Mubende, the districts that first reported Ebola cases, were declared Ebola free in November after the health ministry discharged the last Ebola patients. The two districts had been under a lockdown since October 15 when the President directed so.

Since the Ebola outbreak was declared in September, 142 cases have been confirmed, 56 of these losing their lives to the disease.

The outbreak, the health ministry communicated earlier, was caused by the Ebola Sudan strain which has no vaccine.

The lifting of the lockdown comes at a time Uganda has received the first shipment of trial vaccines against the Sudan strain, with more shipment of doses expected in the coming months.

Ebola spreads through bodily fluids and has symptoms such as fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhea.