KASESE – 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 local leaders say more people continue to have contact with their counterparts from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who are at a high risk of contracting ebola.
However, the District Health Inspector, Stephen Bagonza, says they are still on alert but have only closed inland screen centres
“The only checkpoints we intended to reduce are the ones that are within the district not at the border,” he added.
Bagonza adds that “the number of the people crossing from DR Congo because of infection rate, having no case in Uganda as of now since we last had four cases, we looked at reducing our screening points in a way that we can get those that we can manage due to the availability of resources available, we had to reduce these screening points so that we are able to cater for them and our screeners in terms to their allowances, transport and welfare.”
John Bosco Kananura, the chairperson LC1, Katwe said: “though there is some relax because the scare is like subsiding in our area but it is still rife on the Congo side and that’s why I feel that that checkpoint that used to check those people who come from the side of Rwera on the side of Democratic Republic of Congo is still wanted on that original checkpoint because we have people who come from DRC coming to buy fish from Katwe landing site.”
In October 2019, Uganda joined DRC and other neighbouring countries, in a meeting of ministers, senior health and immigration officials and partners to strengthen cross-border collaboration on preparedness and response to Ebola virus and other disease outbreaks.
Other countries included; Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.
They recognized the shared threat that the outbreak poses to health and economic security in the subregion and other parts of Africa and the need to develop an action plan to mitigate the effects of these threats.
