The United Kingdom has provided £2.2m approximately 9.3 Billion Shillings to the United Nations agencies working with Uganda in the fight against the Ebola epidemic.
The British High Commission to Uganda announced that the money will be going to the World Health Organization-WHO, United Nations Children’s Fund, and the World Food Programme-WFP which are directly involved in the Ebola response.
Of the money provided, £400,000 will go to WHO to enhance case investigation and contact tracing at the local level, support laboratory diagnosis, and strengthen coordination of the response, £900,000 will go to UNICEF, to help prevent transmission of the disease through both strengthened engagement with local communities and improved sanitation and hygiene provisions in key installations – such as community health facilities and schools in the affected areas while £900,000 will go to the WFP to support transport, logistics and storage for the overall UN response including transportation of medical supplies and personal protective equipment, the provision of cold chain equipment and supporting the establishment of Ebola treatment units.
The UK government has also deployed experts to support WHO in Uganda with expertise in case management. “Time is of the essence when responding to this type of outbreak.
The UK is helping the Government of Uganda and its partners in their response, by providing both funding that can help scale up delivery on the ground and experts who bring the experience of previous Ebola outbreaks in other countries. The UK will stand with the Government and people of Uganda in tackling this outbreak,” said Kate Airey, the British High Commissioner to Uganda.
Airey added that the support package builds on previous assistance the UK has provided Uganda. Between 2018 and 2020 the UK contributed nearly £10m to support Ebola preparedness in Uganda in response to a major outbreak in DRC and a small number of cases in Uganda.
An outbreak was declared in Uganda last month after a case was confirmed in Mubende district. The epidemic has spread to neighboring districts although the number of infections and deaths are still in double digits.
