Uganda seeks 20 million USD to fight Ebola outbreak

KAMPALA, Nov. 3 — Uganda’s health ministry said Wednesday it was seeking 76 billion shillings (about 20 million U.S. dollars) to finance a three-month Ebola response plan.
Margaret Muhanga, minister of state for health in charge of primary health care, told the parliament that the budget for the response plan was presented to the Cabinet and submitted to the Ministry of Finance for funding.
Muhanga said that as an emergency, the ministry has cut back on its spending and reallocated 2 billion shillings within its budget to support affected districts in carrying out response activities.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization Director General, in a tweet on Oct. 28 said adequate resources are urgently needed for scaling up the Ebola response in Uganda, as well as supporting neighboring countries to prepare.
Tedros said while 67.9 million dollars are needed for the Ebola response in Uganda, the current gap stands at 58.2 million dollars. He said the regional strategic readiness and response plan requires 133 million dollars to ramp up preparations in neighboring countries.
Uganda is grappling with the spread of the deadly disease. Some counties have started issuing travel advisories in fear of importing the disease.
Ministry of Health figures show that as of Oct. 26, the country has registered 115 confirmed Ebola cases and 32 deaths since the outbreak was announced on Sept. 20. (Xinhua)