The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
By Sarah Namulondo
The ministry of health has today revealed a Marburg response plan and budget amounting to sh2.3 billion to control the outbreak of the disease.
The money which is going to be used in facilitating central level activities is 1.7 billion majorly focusing on case management, surveillance, research and social mobilization and procurement of protective gears for the ministry of health.
Dr Joaquin Saweka, a World Health Organisation official said that the government has a tendency of delaying allocation of money to out breaks which has brought about a lot of damages.
He added that if the government of Uganda was quick to allocate this money the outbreaks would be arrested before doing a lot of harm.
However the Minister of Health Christine Ondoa said that her ministry together with the Ministry of Finance will work out a plan for this money to be accessed in time.
She said that the district budget will total 651,047,576 and it will cover case management just like the central budget.
Addressing journalists at media centre the minister said that a team of experts is arriving next week from U.S Centres for Disease Control (CDC) to carry out a study on wild animals in districts where suspected cases of the Marburg virus have been reported.
The minister said Part of there response plan is to train health workers in Kabale district and other peripheral health facilities on infectious prevention and control to build health workers capacity and also a burial committee has been put in place to avoid new infections.
The minister said that although they are doing their best they are facing location constraints because the cost of transferring specimen to Entebbe from Kabale is tedious.
Saweka commended Uganda for having the best surveillance team in eastern Africa which has helped it detect these viruses before hand but he also advised people living next to these communities to avoid eating dead animals which have been left behind.
