Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s former health minister, who led the fight against a deadly Ebola outbreak, was sentenced to jail along with a colleague on Monday for stealing funds destined to fight the disease. Oly Ilunga was sentenced to five years in jail by the Court of Cassation, while the former …
Read More »DRC hopes to declare end to Ebola outbreak next month
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo health officials said Monday they were “keeping fingers crossed” to declare a deadly 19-month Ebola epidemic over next month, while monitoring former patients for signs of the virus. While the world’s attention has been focused on the coronavirus, the last patient under …
Read More »DRC discharges last ebola patient from a treatment facility
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The DRC has discharged the last Ebola patient from a treatment center located in the North Eastern town of Beni according to the country’s Ministry of Health. Thishis comes after more than a year after an Ebola outbreak was declared in DRC in August 2018. …
Read More »Ebola screening at entry points no longer necessary-WHO
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Even as Ebola Haemorrhagic fever outbreak is still on-going in DR Congo, the World Health Organization (WHO) says that the Emergency Committee does not consider entry screening at airports or other ports of entry outside the region to be necessary. In a statement issued …
Read More »Health workers abandon ebola screening centers over pay
Buliisa, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | More than 100 health workers deployed to manage various Ebola screening centers in Bullisa district have abandoned their duty stations citing none payment. The affected include members of Village Health teams-VHTs and Health workers attached to various health facilities in the district. The affected workers …
Read More »Funding for disease outbreaks to expire next month
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The overwhelming number of disease outbreaks is stretching the budget for health emergencies. This is according to Dr Allan Muruta the Commissioner Public Health Emergencies at the Ministry of Health. Muruta says that a loan worth 15 million dollars which they secured from the …
Read More »Cholera deepens misery in eastern DR Congo’s ‘forgotten’ crisis
Masisi, DR Congo | AFP | In eastern DR Congo, thousands have fled violence to camps in the remote mountain forests where they battle cholera, hunger and misery in a forgotten humanitarian disaster. Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has long struggled with violence from several militia groups, a legacy of the …
Read More »Fear as red cross withdraws ebola screening volunteers
Kisoro, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Kisoro district Ebola surveillance officials are concerned about the partial withdrawal Ebola screening volunteers deployed by Uganda Red Cross Society-URCS from the Uganda-Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo-DRC borders. Red Cross had deployed Ebola surveillance staff at seven entry points including Bunagana, Chanika, Kanombe Ntek, …
Read More »Kasese communities demand restoration of ebola screening centres
Kasese, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Local leaders in Katwe Landing Site in Kasese District are appealing to the District Health Department and the Ministry of Health to restore more than 10 key Ebola screening centres that were closed. The district last year put in place measures to avert a possible …
Read More »Health Ministry to prioritize funding to tackle disease outbreaks
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health will in 2020 prioritize raising funds to address disease outbreaks. Last year, a number of disease outbreaks were reported in the country. These include cases of measles and rubella, cholera, malaria and three confirmed cases of Ebola. Dr Jane …
Read More »