Home Health US Embassy Account for Shs85Bn Ebola Response Funds

US Embassy Account for Shs85Bn Ebola Response Funds

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The US Embassy in Uganda has said that sensational headlines and social media Campaigns won’t sway it away from providing Ebola Response Funds to Uganda in a trackable manner.

Todate, the US Embassy said that had channeled more than $22.3 million (nearly Shs85 billion) for the response.

This they said has been channeled, through implementing partners, to support the government-led response to the current Ebola virus outbreak since September 20, 2022.  

“By supporting the leading role of Uganda’s Ministry of Health (MOH), and in coordination with other national and international partners, U.S. government funding advances Ebola surveillance and contact tracing, case management, follow-up care for Ebola survivors, diagnostics and laboratories, risk communications and community engagement, infection prevention and control, waste management, care and treatment for patients in Ebola Treatment Units, and also safe and dignified burials,” US said in a statement.

The United States government, the Embassy said has mobilized an interagency team to support Uganda’s Ebola response through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and the U.S. Department of State.  Highlights of this support include:

U.S. Government Personnel Engaged, Supporting Uganda’s Ebola Response.

“51 CDC staff are providing direct technical assistance and support working in affected districts, including 18 CDC Uganda team members and 33 CDC headquarters technical experts.

The U.S. government actively participates in district-level and national-level Task Force meetings to advise on response strategies and coordination.

 Community Engagement and Communications Support,” they said 

The United States, they said has invested in community engagement for outbreak response across Uganda and building risk communication capacity for dealing with any health emergency alongside the MOH in Uganda for years.  This support has contributed to:

“Rapid deployment of trained Uganda Red Cross volunteers to partner with Ebola affected communities to improve uptake of community-based surveillance, contact tracing, alert investigation, and safe burials.

A nationwide MOH Ebola public awareness and messaging campaign through radio, SMS, WhatsApp, social media, and mobile loudspeaker broadcasting platforms. assistance sponsored two radio spots providing information on the Ebola virus that were translated into three major local languages,”

“Distribution of more than 200,000 pieces of information, education, and communication materials in five of the affected districts, including in three local languages. These materials include 12,000 job aids for Village Heath Teams and Health Care Workers.

The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) in Uganda supporting community engagement, sensitization, and social mobilization; community-based surveillance (alert notifications); referrals for case management; and safe and dignified burials.

Community leader engagement, sensitization, and dialogues in person and virtually with MOH trainers through ZOOM with approximately 300 faith leaders including Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, and Muslim leaders.

 Supporting Local Response Capacity for Laboratory Systems, Virus Surveillance & Case Management,”

Accountability 

The embassy said that have provided $5.5 million to Baylor-Uganda to support contact tracing, alert management, emergency response coordination, border health, lab training, surge staff and infection, prevention and control (IPC),

$3.8 million to the Infectious Disease Institute (IDI) for IPC, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), contact tracing, Entebbe International airport support, safe and dignified burials,

All 29 fellows in the U.S. supported Public Health Fellowship Program (PHFP), four program staff, and four incoming PHFP fellows scheduled to start in January 2023 have been supporting case investigation activities, alerts management and contact tracing, and population connectivity across borders (PopCAB) activities to support the response.

” To date, fellows have investigated and linked more than 140 confirmed and probable Ebola cases, including those of healthcare workers, and supported the evacuation of ill patients, providing critical information to the response to evaluate the presence of undetected community chains and reduce the impact of the outbreak.

Support to UN Agencies – WHO and UNICEF,” 

“$6.4 million to UN agencies includes funds for coordination and case management, surveillance and contact tracing, waste management, community engagement, and supporting survivors.

Support for Ebola Vaccines Development,” 

This come at a period when MOH is at loggerheads with the embassy over the disbursement of the funds by the latter.

In her statement to parliament on Wednesday, the minister said since the beginning of the outbreak, no funding has been provided to support the response of the ministry despite a clear response plan, which is affecting the speed of the response.

“Partners usually inquire about government input before they declare their resources. We are seeing partners declaring resources mobilized on social media, which resources we do not have information abou” Dr Aceng’s statement reads in part, saying that they need Shs76 billion.

Chris Obore the Head of Communication at Parliament in a tweet on Saturday said by challenging Ebola money through Ministry of Health; the US racket with NGOs want to ‘ eat’ that money themselves. Don’t be fooled that it’s about corruption in govt. Corruption in civil society is deeper too. Some NGOs are avenues for donors to eat too.

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