Uganda News

Kampala, 7 December, 2017:- The World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting the Ministry of Health (MoH) National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) and Epidemiology and Surveillance Division (ESD) to train regional District Rapid Response Teams (DRRT) in malaria epidemic preparedness, detection and response within the context of Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR). The exercise is based on the curriculum developed by WHO and adapted for country needs by the RRT training technical working group.

Kole, 5 December 2017:- The President of Uganda, His Excellency, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, called for increased involvement of men in efforts to tackle HIV & AIDS in Uganda. This was at the national commemoration of the World AIDS Day (WAD) 2017 under the theme ‘Reaching men, girls and young women, to reduce new HIV infections” at the Abilonino National Instructors College in Kole District.

Moses (not real name) is a resident of Kaproron, in Kween district, which has been experiencing the Marburg Virus Disease (MV) outbreak. Like many residents of the district, Moses had never heard of MVD before. 

Kapchorwa 2 December 2017:- The World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with the European Union and the US Center for Disease Control deployed the EU mobile laboratory bringing together experts from Marburg University and Berharndt Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine at Kapchorwa District hospital to improve sample testing and enable real-time reporting of results during the Marburg outbreak.

Kampala, 17 November 2017:- The World Health Organization (WHO) has donated 10 motorcycles to Uganda’s Ministry of Health (MoH) to enhance Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) contact tracing, active case search as well as disease and death surveillance in Kween and Kapchorwa districts. The Motorcycles worth USD 32,000 will eventually be used to strengthen the community disease surveillance system in the two districts when the current outbreak response activities come to an end.

15 November 2017:- WHO has been implementing the Emergency Response Plan since 20 October 2017 when the Ministry of Health officially declared the outbreak. WHO released US$ 624 000 from the Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) to rapidly respond which has proven to help contain the outbreak.

Kapchorwa 10th November 2017- Political leaders, civil servants, health workers and security officers from Kenya and Uganda have agreed to establish mechanisms to share disease surveillance data across districts and borders in order to prevent or control disease outbreaks.

Kween, 8th November, 2017:- The Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) response activities in Kween district eastern Uganda are now in full throttle despite initial scepticism from sections of the community. Association of the disease with witchcraft, poor information flow from the treatment centre to the community, inadequate logistics, terrain of the area and presence of few partners on ground were major challenges in the initial stages of the response.

Kween District, 4th November 2017 - As the Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) continues to unfold in Kween district, eastern Uganda, frontline health workers battling the outbreak have been urged to nurture local capacity to be able to respond to both the current and future outbreaks.