The donation which is estimated to cost one billion shillings ($265,000) was delivered at the Ministry of Health on Friday and comes at a time when the country has recorded one mpox death and an increasing number of confirmed cases of the disease that has since been declared a public health emergency of international concern.
Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng recieved the donation of 5000 test kits and reagents on Friday. The US has so far donated 10,000 test kits to the country.
The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has donated 5,000
test kits and reagents to help with testing for m-pox. This is the second batch
to be donated by the United States in the last two months. The first batch was
also of 5000 kits.
The donation which is estimated to cost one billion
shillings ($265,000) was delivered at the Ministry of Health on Friday and comes
at a time when the country has recorded one mpox death and an increasing number
of confirmed cases of the disease that has since been declared a public health
emergency of international concern.
According to US Ambassador to Uganda William Popp,
they felt that it was important to have people tested as this will not only
help with isolating those infected but will also help in tracing their contacts
such that they will be quickly identified before spreading the highly contagious
disease to many others.
//Cue in: “It is key …
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The Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng said within the region, Uganda, DR Congo and
Burundi have the highest number of confirmed cases which are mainly driven by
sexual contact. In Kampala for instance majority of those affected are sex workers
and boda boda motorcyclists.
//Cue in: Within East Africa …
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She says because of this mode of transmission, it is largely
through individual responsibility that the country will easily halt the spread and calls for cautiousness.
By Thursday, Uganda had registered over 200 confirmed
cases of the disease from ninety cases just two weeks ago.
The abrupt rise in cases has had officials concerned
especially that many donors have not yet come out to fund key areas such as testing
and laboratory as the majority have instead tagged their funding on other different
aspects of the response such as risk communication and surveillance.
In an early meeting, Christabel Abewe, a Technical
Officer in charge of Health Financing at the World Health Organization revealed
that nine of the seventeen donor entities that had pledged to support Uganda’s
mpox response had offered actual money.
//Cue in:” In terms of what …
Cue out: … partners supporting them”. //
The United States’ says the new donation is an addition
to the over $4 million dollars that they have already extended to the country
since August to help respond to and prevent mpox.
