African health ministers agree on measures to curb Ebola outbreak
Ministers of health and government representatives from 9 African countries have agreed on joint measures to stop the potential spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in Uganda and beyond its borders.
This was in a joint communique issued after the high-level emergency ministerial meeting on cross-border collaboration for preparedness and response to Ebola held at Speke Resort, Munyonyo in Kampala on Wednesday, October 12.
The ministers of health and senior government officials from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda endorsed key measures to prevent the cross-border spread of the Sudan Ebola virus.
They also agreed on disease surveillance, contact tracing and monitoring, prompt alert notification, information sharing, and joint training of emergency responders, as well as carrying out simulation exercises to enhance preparedness and response.
They will also have joint plans to carry out cross-border readiness, including raising public awareness and conducting community engagement campaigns.
They also agreed to the rapid cross-border deployment of medical personnel to tackle the disease. Uganda declared an outbreak of the Sudan Ebola virus on September 20, 2022.
It has so far claimed 19 lives and infected 54 people while 20 have recovered from the disease.
