According to an official with the World Health Organization, two treatment units have been established in the western border districts of Kasese and Bundibugyo to respond to any deadly Ebola outbreak,

“Ebola Treatment Units are where patients can get the best care possible with access to rehydration methods and protection from infecting their family and community,” Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam, Uganda’s WHO Representative said.

Woldemariam said the treatment units were fully equipped and ready to manage any Ebola cases in the East African country. Although there are no confirmed Ebola cases in Uganda, the country remains on high alert following an outbreak in the neighboring Congo.

Ebola is highly contagious and can cause a range of symptoms including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, generalized pain and in many cases internal and external bleeding. The WHO says as of Aug. 21, there are 103 confirmed cases of Ebola in the DRC, with 61 deaths 32 were confirmed and 27 were probable.

Mortality rates of Ebola, according to WHO, are high, with the human case fatality rate ranging from 50 percent to 89 percent, depending on viral sub-type.

The current Congolese outbreak mirrors the 2014 West African outbreak that saw more than 11,000 deaths, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Liberia. There were also 11 cases of Ebola in the United States tied to the outbreak, including four deaths.

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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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Grants For Health Development in Developing Countries: The British Council and the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET) have jointly launched the International Health Links Funding Scheme (IHLFS) with the funding support of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Department of Health.

The scheme will be implemented through a partnership, referred to as Health Link, between health institutions in the developing country andUK.

Purpose of Grants

The purpose of the scheme is to “strengthen the capacity of health services in developing countries by providing £1.25 million each year to support the work of Health Links.”

Health links will enable strengthening health systems and improving healthcare delivery in both developed as well as developing countries “by allowing for a reciprocal transfer of skills and knowledge between people working in the healthcare sector.”

Activities can include training health staff and building the capacity of health systems in developing countries and professionals inUKpartner agencies can also benefit by gaining an understanding of global health issues.

The Grant

There are three different types of grants allocated for different regions:

Small grants

Up to £3,000 will be open to health institutions in theUKand the following countries:

Africa: DemocraticRepublicofCongo,Ethiopia,Ghana,Kenya,Malawi,Mozambique,Nigeria,Rwanda,Sierra Leone,Sudan,Tanzania,Uganda,ZambiaandZimbabwe.

Asia:Afghanistan,Bangladesh,Cambodia,India,Nepal,Pakistan,VietnamandYemen.

Medium grants

Up to £15,000 per year for 1-2 years and Large grants (up to £60,000 per year for up to 3 years) will be available to Links between health organisations in theUKand the following countries:

Africa:Ethiopia,Ghana,Kenya,Rwanda,Malawi,Mozambique,Nigeria,Sierra Leone,Tanzania,Uganda,Zambia.

Asia:Bangladesh,NepalandPakistan.

Health service institutions (recognised within national or district health plans), professional associations and societies, health governing bodies e.g. Ministry and health training institutions in developing countries are eligible to apply for the funding support.

 Application Deadline: Each year.

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