A team from Doctors Without Borders dons protective clothing and equipment as they prepare to treat Ebola patients in an isolation ward of Mbandaka hospital in Congo

The government of Uganda through State Minister for Health and General Duties, Sarah Opendi, has denied reports of Ebola outbreak  in the country.

Earlier reports had indicated that there has been an outbreak in Mubende district, located in central Uganda.

“We would like to inform the public that there is no Ebola outbreak in Mubende District or any other part of the country,” Uganda’s Daily Monitor reported State Minister for Health-General Duties, Sarah Opendi as saying.

Opendi said that the earlier report of Ebola in the media was actually a case of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF).

“On the night of May 21, a 35-year-old male from Nkoko sub-county in Bugangaizi county, Kakumiro district presented at Melt Care Clinic with a high fever and vomiting and was admitted for two days,” said Opendi

“As his condition deteriorated he was transferred to Mubende Regional Referral Hospital several days later, put in the hospital’s isolation ward and given intravenous fluids. However, he died the same night,” the minister added saying that tissue samples from the deceased were sent to the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI).

“The attendants of the deceased who included his expectant wife and four others were immediately quarantined and they are closely being monitored. To mitigate any possible exposure from contact with the suspect, all material used by the deceased, including a trolley and beddings were burnt,” she added.

Further measures have been taken by the authorities to prevent the spread of CCHF.

VIDEO: No Ebola outbreak in Uganda — health ministry – YouTube

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GHSA was launched in 2014 as a 5-year initiative to increase country-level health security capacity to stop outbreaks at the source. The Agenda now includes over 60 nations all working to close gaps that allow infectious diseases to take root and spread.

“Africa as a continent has insufficient surveillance, laboratory networks, competent workforce and research expertise which compromises evidence-based decision making. Africa must rise up to the challenge and develop its capacity through the various national bodies,” the President said.

Mr. Museveni said that African Heads of State launched the African Centre for Disease Control (CDC) after recognizing its need at the African Union Special Summit on HIV and AIDS, TB and Malaria in Abuja in July 2013, before the devastating Ebola outbreak of 2014/2015.

He added that in 2000 when Uganda had an Ebola outbreak in Gulu and 2007 when Marburg broke out, the government’s capacity to prevent, detect and respond was poor and many lives were lost. “Since then, we have put emphasis on building capacity and I am happy that the detection and response timelines, have improved and control is swiftly mounted,” he said.

The President appealed to leaders to follow up disease outbreaks from the time of declaration to the time the country is declared free of the outbreak because the public might refuse to listen to the medical people but listen to their leaders. “Here in Uganda, I regard myself a political doctor. The medical doctor cannot handle all of the outbreaks. When there is an outbreak here, I immediately get involved and become part of the responsive team,” he said.

Mr. Museveni also urged the GHSA to train and empower communities with information because they are a very useful tool at enhancing prevention, detection and response.  “Communities are very important in the control of public threats as they are the first people to experience the outbreaks and have their own values, beliefs and ways of responding,” he said.

President Museveni addresses the $th Health Security Agenda

President Museveni called upon the public to stop encroaching on the environment saying this has disrupted the equilibrium and resulted in emerging and re-emerging of public health threats. “Ebola and Marburg are because humans invade habitats of animals where they are not supposed to be,” he said.

The President said that according to World Health Organization, 6 out of every 10 infectious diseases in humans, are spread from animals; therefore, the health of people is connected to the health of animals and the environment.

Citing the 2014/2015 Ebola outbreaks in West Africa, Dr Tim Evans, a Senior Director for Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank, said epidemics and pandemics derail economies. He called upon the participants to think about national, regional and global financing for a more secure future.

Admiral Tim Ziemer, Senior Director for Global Health and White House National Security Council member said the US government was committed to supporting the GHSA and extend it up to 2024.

“If GHSA is extended to 2024, we will work with partners to strengthen the next phase of this multilateral initiative building on existing work, and shaping the GHSA mission and structure to reflect the current global health security environment,” he said.

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Nakaseke Area Mp Paulson Luttamaguzi

Reports show that the patients of this disease are in Nakaseke hospital where government established an isolation unit. Lutamaguzi said that the people in the area are worried that the disease was taken to the area through nets which were distributed to them by government. He asked government to intervene into this matter and sensitize the public on how to protect themselves from this disease.

The government chief whip Ruth Nakabirwa Sentamu said that will inform the Ministry of Health about the out break so as mass sensitization carried out .

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An Ebola isolation ward in Conakry, Guinea

Following the declaration that now they are free from Ebola but still under investigations, Guinea has pledged to use similar systems Uganda uses in the fight against outbreaks. Guinea and Sierra leone were worst hit by the Ebola outbreaks where 0ver 11000 died and Uganda under the WHO arrangements sent experts to handle the curbing of this epidemic.

Delegations of health officials from these countries are here for a week to learn on how to handle outbreaks and according to the head of emergency operation center in the republic of Guinea Mohammed Elmahady Camara he says the outbreak hit them due to absence of a tracking system similar to that of Uganda that he says they will implement when they return.

On her part the deputy health and sanitation minister in the government of Sierra leone Madina.S.Rahman  advised Uganda to use the same methods they are using in the fight against drug theft where each medical worker is thoroughly checked in the morning and even after work to make sure they don’t steal drugs. She says they are still challenged by the high rates of brain drain where experts have continued to leave the country for greener pastures elsewhere.

The Ag Director General of health services Dr. Antony Mbonye who represented the minister says the meeting aims at sharing working experiences with their counterparts.

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The report noted that ‘The epidemic’s unprecedented escalation is linked to the region’s lack of experience with the virus, combined with a host of factors including culture, history, geography, weak health systems, over-centralized governance with inadequate accountability systems, fear, mistrust of state institutions, poor infrastructure and a much-delayed international response.’ This could be referring to any of the regions of Africa seeing that there are similar conditions across the continent; that is why the recommendations given to West Africa can very well be implemented by any of the other regions.

Selected Key Recommendations

• Strengthen epidemiological surveillance subsystems and response capacity at national, community and district levels;
• Strengthen governance and accountability of the sector in particular at prefecture/district level, including through adequate funding by the government, capacity-building in health management, communication and social mobilization, and popular participation;
• Equip health facilities with medical and industrial equipment in accordance with minimum national standards by level of care, ensuring that maintenance services are put in place to prolong the operational use of the equipment;
• Strengthen the framework for consultation and dialogue at the local/community level with the effective participation of women and youth;
• Strengthen formal and informal civic and citizenship education;
• Increase transparency in the management of land and natural resources.
• Ensure that all schools (formal and non-formal) are safe through investment in school water and sanitation facilities such that teachers and pupils have access to clean water for hand-washing; also, systems of temperature screening to monitor students’ health need to be introduced and referral mechanisms established with local health centres;
• Carryout good local awareness campaigns and community engagement
• Convey well-developed, harmonized and clear health crisis prevention messages to critical target groups including supervisors, teachers, learners and parents;
• Invest in youth employment and skills-building schemes, in particular through employment-intensive infrastructure programmes, to ensure that loss of employment does not further alienate a youth population
• Ensure that women are able to access information about how to prevent and respond to the epidemic,
• Integrate gender equality and women’s participation, including building the capacity of women’s groups, associations and traditional leaders to strengthen response mechanisms;
• Promote the establishment of an all-Africa Youth Corps along the lines recommended by the African Union;
• Actively promote labour-based infrastructure projects to reduce the high levels of unemployed and unskilled youth;
• Employment-intensive investment programmes should be designed for job-friendly and youth-friendly environments.
• Joint border management should be enhanced especially for disaster management; because unsupervised movement across borders aided the spread of the epidemic.

If East Africa, along with the rest of Africa, established these protocols we would have a system to abate the recurrence of such a tragic crisis hence saving thousands of lives. The recommendations given in the report go beyond Ebola-proofing the continent but also improving the economies and education systems of the nations.

Read full Report here:Recovering From The Ebola Crisis

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Doctors attend to an EBloa patient in Uganda

This follows reports from ecologists that the bats are carriers of Ebola and Marburg.

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This means that the whole district currently does not have any Ebola case.

The end of the Ebola outbreak followed the completion of 42 days of the post Ebola surveillance countdown period.

Minister of health Dr. Christine Ondoa

Announcing the declaration In Luwero district the health minister Dr. Christine Ondoa says it good news that they managed to control the disease before it spread to other districts.

Ondoa says they are going to continue monitoring the areas to ensure that there are no new outbreaks.

The minister is however appealing to members of the public to remain very vigilant and report any suspected cases.

Three people died from the recent outbreak of the Ebola virus and two of the dead were from one family in Luweero district.

Ebola is spread mostly through contact with body fluids, and have high case fatalities.

Symptoms include bleeding, diarrhea and vomiting and while there is no cure for both diseases, some patients survive through treatment of symptoms.

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3 people have so far died as a result of a strange disease that is suspected to be Ebola.

The permanent secretary at the ministry of health Dr. Asuman Lukwago says the findings will guide the ministry on how to proceed.

He however appeals to members of the public to report any suspected cases to the nearby health Centers.

The highly infectious disease presents with high grade fever and bleeding, head headache vomiting abdominal pain and kills in a short time.

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This followed the completion of the requisite 42 days of post Ebola surveillance period.

The World Health Organisation requires that any affected country monitors the Ebola situation for a period of 42 days before finally declaring an end to the outbreak.

The State Minister for Health in charge of primary health care Sarah Opendi says there have been no Ebola cases reported in Kibaale district or any other part of the country. The last confirmed case was discharged from the isolation ward of Kagadi Hospital on the 24th of August.

Addressing health development partners and members of the National Task Force at Kagadi Hospital, Opendi said the health ministry is committed to promoting the health of all Ugandans through provision of the highest possible level of services.

Meanwhile the WHO Country Representative Dr. Joachim Saweka has commended the different organizations for their active role in containing the outbreak that left 17 people dead in July.

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President Museveni’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) Government will declare Kibaale District Ebola-free on Friday 21^st September 2012.

The District Health Officer, Dr Dan Kyamanywa, says that the declaration will take place if no new confirmed Ebola case is registered in the district. Kyamanywa says that the two suspected Ebola cases that were registered atKagadiHospitallast week were found negative.

Ebola outbreak was confirmed inUgandalate July 2012 after the disease killed 13 members of one family inNyanswigaVillageinNyamarundaSub-countyin Kibaale district.

The disease spread to other sub-counties, killing more than 20 people and more than 60 people were admitted toKagadiHospitalwith Ebola symptoms.

Ends

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