WHO sends senior leaders to support Ebola response
Ebola burial team transports Dr Mohammed Ali’s body to the public cemetery at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital on October 2, 2022. PHOTO | FILE
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has written to the Health ministry about plans to send its senior leadership to support the Ebola response and prevent cross-border spread.
This information is contained in an October 9 letter, which Mr Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the spokesperson of the Health ministry, shared with journalists on Sunday.
Dr Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam, the WHO country representative, said the senior leaders include WHO Executive Director Michael J. Ryan and other three leaders from the WHO Africa region office.
The leaders from the regional office include the Director Programme Management, Dr Cabore Joseph, the Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, Dr Gueye Abdou Salam, and the Emergency Operations Manager, Dr Fiona Braka.
“The main objective of their visit is to attend the high-level emergency ministerial meeting on Cross Border Collaboration for Preparedness and Response to Ebola Virus Disease scheduled on October 12, 2022,” Dr Yonas wrote.
He added: “The WHO team is also looking forward to having discussions on Ebola response support needed from the WHO regional office.”
The EVD has killed 17 of the 48 who contracted the infection, according to statistics from the Health ministry.
The Health ministry last week said they have contained the spread to five districts and up to eight people have recovered from the deadly disease.
The Health minister, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, to whom the letter was addressed, couldn’t be reached for comments by press time. But she said earlier the WHO has been supportive in the response to the outbreak.
However, the letter comes a few days after WHO gave Ebola figures which were higher than what the Health ministry was reporting. The governments of the United States and the UK issued health alerts and some form of travel restriction on passengers from Uganda.
“WHO is continuing to support the government of Uganda to respond to the Ebola outbreak in four districts. So far: 63 confirmed and probable cases have been reported, including 29 deaths. Ten health workers have been infected and 4 have died,” the head of WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said last week.
On October 9, the data from the Health ministry indicated that Ebola cases were at 48, and cumulative deaths stood at 17. The ministry is only reporting confirmed cases, leaving the probable Ebola deaths which happened before the outbreak was announced on September 19, unaccounted for even as the country looks for the index case.
The limited reporting by the Health Ministry, was among other reasons, triggered by an outcry by the Tourism Ministry and players in the sector that Ebola numbers were scaring away tourists as the country struggles to bolster its foreign exchange earnings.
