The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kassanda, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Kassanda district council on Tuesday approved a supplementary budget of 305 million Shillings for the fight against Ebola. The budget was passed and approved at a special council sitting chaired by Speaker Godfrey Katumba.
The money will be used for surveillance, response to alerts, awareness programs in the communities, and allowances for the district and task force officials.
Last month, the Ministry of Health confirmed an outbreak of Ebola in Mubende and Kassanda districts.
Over the weekend, the Ministry of Health announced that another nine people in Kampala had tested positive for the Ebola virus disease. All these infections were from contacts of previous Ebola victims who had traveled to Kampala from the districts of Mubende and Kassanda.
Katumba asked the district taskforce to utilize the approved funds for the purposes it is meant for to avoid accountability challenges in fighting the epidemic.
Shamina Kawuma, the health educator from the Health Ministry, said that many leaders were still living in doubt that there is no Ebola but asked them to always get the right information and also to help carryout surveillance from their respective constituencies as well as informing their communities on the protective measures.
Kawuma also said that a total of 6 ambulances had been obtained to evacuate Ebola suspects from the communities and also to help transport other patients and expectant mothers during the lockdown in Kassanda and Mubende districts.
However, the councilors protested the arrangement to park the ambulances at the district headquarters. They asked the authorities to distribute them to health center IIIs spread in the sub-counties to enable quick response.
Jackson Mugumya, the youth councilor criticized health workers for delaying to collect bodies and patients from the communities. He said that having ambulances at the health centers would ease service delivery in the fight against the Ebola disease.
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The funds should be utilized properly.