Uganda’s Ebola Outbreak Is a Test of What We’ve Learned from Covid
The first major Ebola outbreak in Uganda happened when I was a medical student at Makerere University in Kampala. A professor of virology explained to us the dangers of filoviruses, the virus family Ebola belongs to, and why they should be avoided at all costs.
Seven years later, in 2007, I was a newly minted military officer, detailed to respond to a new Ebola outbreak near the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where I saw this danger firsthand.
It’s...
Transparency is critical if we are to defeat Ebola
On Wednesday, November 2, 2022, during Plenary, the Minister of State for Primary Health Care, Margaret Muhanga, told Parliament that the Health Ministry needed Ugx75 billion to implement an Ebola epidemic response strategy.
Muhanga stated that while they had approached the Ministry of Finance to supply the money, the Health Ministry had yet to receive a response. She stated that the ministry was able to raise Shs 2.1 billion from its own funds to respond to the Ebola outbreak.
Allocations
The same Wednesday...
Medical Interns Planned Strike is Unpatriotic
On September 20, 2022, the Ministry of Health announced the outbreak of Ebola Virus disease in the districts of Mubende and Kassanda. More cases have since been noted in various districts including Kampala Metropolitan area.
In the wake of the outbreak, Medical Interns under their umbrella Federation of Medical Interns (FUMI) have threatened to take industrial action. According to the letter addressed to the Minister of Health, Hon Jane Ruth Acheng, the strike is slated for Sunday 6th November 2022.
According...
The Human Organ Donation and Transplant Bill 2022 Music to the Ears of Ugandans
The Uganda Human Organ Donation and Transplant Bill 2022, passed last September gives a sigh of relief to many Ugandans. The bill seeks to establish a legal framework for the regulation of organ, cell and tissue donation and transplantation in Uganda. It was tabled by Health Minister Hon Jane Ruth Acheng.
According to the bill, any person involved in selling, buying, arrange for trade, harvest and transplant an organ that was sold or bought and any hospital that conducts organs...
EBOLA: Stop politicizing Standard Operating Procedures
On September 19th, 2022, Uganda confirmed Ebola Virus Disease (Sudan) and it has so far claimed 29 lives, including four medical doctors and 63 registered cases as of Monday, October 31st, 2022.
According to the Ministry of Health, over 1,000 people have been put in isolation.
In a bid to curtail the spread of Ebola in Uganda, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni placed Mubende and Kassanda districts under lockdown, where he instituted several SOPs, including prohibiting public transport, among others.
Some opposition leaders...
Uganda to conduct second mass polio vaccination campaign
Uganda will conduct a second polio immunization campaign targeting children under five years of age. The countrywide campaign is scheduled for November, 2022 according to Ministry of health.
Dr. Daniel Kyabayinze, the Director of Public Health, confirmed this during the World Polio Day pre-event organized by Rotary Uganda on Saturday in Kampala.
Kyabayinza said the second phase is intended to supplement the first campaign carried out in January 2022.
He noted that the second dose is critical for children following the confirmation...