Uganda Receives $1m Medical Supplies as First 1200 Doses of Ebola Candidate Vaccines Arrive

The World Health Organization (WHO) has provided in-kind contributions of medical supplies worth USD 1,123,672 to the Ministry of Health to address the health impact of the drought and food insecurity affecting 20 districts of Karamoja, Lango, and Teso regions in Uganda.

Dr Charles Njuguna, Incident Manager at WHO, said this donation aims to ensure the continuity of essential health services including malaria, maternal, neonatal and child health, nutrition, TB and HIV at health facility and community levels while addressing malnutrition among the vulnerable.

“Working together with the government of Uganda, we have supported the Ministry of Health to finalize the response plan, built the capacity of rapid response teams and trained health workers on integrated management of acute malnutrition,” noted Dr Njuguna.

While receiving the donation last Friday, the Minister of Health Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, said beyond the Ebola Outbreak, other health emergencies threaten the life of Uganda’s population.

“I welcome WHO’s support as it will help strengthen the fight against the impact of drought and food insecurity in the country,” she noted.

Ebola vaccine arrives

Last Thursday, Uganda has received 1200 doses of vaccines from WHO which will be used in the Tokomeza Ebola vaccine trial.

This is the first batch of one of the three candidate Vaccines against the Sudan Ebolavirus.

The arrival of the 1200 first doses of one of the three candidate vaccines against the Sudan ebolavirus marked a historical milestone for the outbreak. These will be evaluated in a clinical trial called Tokomeza Ebola, according to WHO Incident Manager, Dr Charles Njuguna.

“This is a historic day for the country and the world of scientific health research. For the 1st time, vaccines 4 clinical trials are produced in less than 90 days after the start of an Ebola outbreak. This is a remarkable effort!” he said.

According to Dr Aceng, Uganda encourages scientists to continue research to support the provision of appropriate drugs and vaccines to prevent future outbreaks.

“It is 09 days today that we have no new cases of Ebola, but that does not mean we are out of the outbreak,” she remarked.

In the same week, WHO donated supplies worth USD995,000 (plus airfare) to the ministry to equip the new Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) at Mulago Hospital and Ebola isolation units in Masaka and Jinja districts.