Dev't partners offer medical equipment worth sh3.7b for Ebola fight

HEALTH | MINISTRY | EBOLA FIGHT

KAMPALA - The Ministry of Health has received medical equipment worth sh3.7b to support the operations of the newly completed Ebola Treatment Centres across the country.

With support from the Governments of Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Luxembourg, the equipment will improve the perception and quality of care offered to patients if more cases continue to come up in the country.

The consignment has two powerful generators, tents for the construction of Ebola treatment centers, and eight incinerators that will manage the waste.

The minister of Health, Dr Ruth Aceng, said, “This equipment has come at the right time because we must build resilience systems that can withstand any shock that comes in the future. Having generators, incinerators, and readily available tents goes towards building the resilience systems that we want."

Since Uganda is prone to public health emergencies, Aceng suggested that we must always be prepared.

Just as the world is still handling Covid, for us, we have moved ahead. Uganda has handled Ebola, Crimean-Congo among others.

She made the remarks during the handover of medical equipment held at the ministry of health headquarters in Kampala on Friday.

Aceng noted: “The incinerators are extremely important because when we get cases of Ebola patients or other potentially dangerous viruses, we have things to incinerate. Not only personal protective wear, but also other pieces of clothing.”

The consignment has two powerful generators, tents for the construction of Ebola treatment centers, and eight incinerators that will manage the waste. (All Photos by Juliet Kasirye)

Representing the World Health Organisation, Country Representative, Dr Yonas Tegegn, the Emergency Preparedness and Response Cluster Lead at WHO, Dr Charles Njuguna, said, well designed and equipped treatment centers are very important components of Ebola response that not only help to improve the chances of survival of the patient but also contribute to improving to the confidence of the population in response.

Njuguna noted: “For this particular Ebola outbreak, the case fatality has been much lower compared with some of the Ebola outbreaks we have seen in the past. They are less than 40%. We have seen Ebola outbreaks in the past that has had even case fatality rate of 95%.”

According to Njuguna, having well-equipped Ebola treatment Centres is vital. The new treatment Centre in Mulago, Kassanda have been designed with relatives and patients in mind, with a design that allows safe interaction of relatives and patients while undergoing treatment.

For Ugandans who wonder why the equipment is brought now, Njuguna said: “in public health emergencies, we use a no-regret approach. We rather error in over-resourcing than in under-resourcing.”

Since Uganda is facing a challenging public health emergency, the Ambassador of Sweden to Uganda, Maria Håkansson said, the equipment will support the health ministry and partners in their relentless efforts to stop the outbreak of Ebola in Uganda.