ITURI PROVINCE — Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, visited Uganda on Monday and praised the country's response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He urged Ugandan authorities to continue assisting the DRC in containing the outbreak, advocating against border restrictions.
Ghebreyesus commended Uganda's Ebola response measures, stating, "The government has mounted a prompt and capable response to the outbreak of Ebola." He added, "Screening at the borders helped detect cases arriving from neighbouring DRC, and the country's surveillance, testing and case management systems are doing steady work." The DRC and Uganda had declared an Ebola outbreak on May 15.
Uganda closed its border with the DRC approximately two weeks prior to Ghebreyesus' visit. He urged Uganda to reconsider the closure, stating, "There is no need for restrictions since they affect the economy." "Restrictions don't really help," Ghebreyesus said. "Addressing the epicentre is the solution."
The Ebola outbreak's epicentre is Ituri province in the eastern DRC. This region has experienced decades of conflict, and armed groups contend for control of mineral resources there. The current outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no approved treatment or vaccine. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 544 confirmed Ebola cases and 88 deaths in the DRC. Uganda has confirmed 19 Ebola cases, with 14 of those individuals having traveled from the DRC, and two deaths. South Sudan, which borders both countries, has not reported any Ebola cases in the current outbreak.
No independent assessment of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s claims was available.