BRUSSELS, Jun 134 (NNN – Prensa Latina) – The European Union (EU) is mobilizing another 3.5 million euros to strengthen the capacity to deal with Ebola in Uganda and South Sudan, assured Thursday the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Christos Stylianides.
A total of 2.5 million euros will go to Uganda and 1 million to South Sudan, in addition to the 17 million mobilized to combat Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since 2018, when an outbreak broke out in the east of that country.
The European Commission official expressed the commitment of the EU bloc to ‘continue our assistance until this outbreak ends, as long as necessary.
He explained that ‘the main task is not only to help the DRC, but also to assist neighbouring countries such as Uganda’ and ‘to strengthen the local capacities of these countries to act in a timely and effective manner’.
The new European funds will help strengthen disease surveillance in communities, health centers and border crossings and the training of rapid intervention teams and health personnel.
Assistance will also be directed towards the preparation of human resources at the first line of contact with those affected, in areas such as infection prevention, control measures, psychological support and dignified burial.
The Ebola outbreak, which began on August 1 in eastern DRC, affects the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.
According to the Congolese Health Ministry, there have been 2,071 cases so far, of which 1,977 have been confirmed, and 1,396 deaths have been registered.
For its part, the Health Ministry of Uganda confirmed this Thursday that there are no confirmed cases of Ebola in the country, after the two deaths regirested during the past two days and the repatriation of their relatives to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
NNN – Prensa Latina
