The Vice President of Uganda, H.E Jessica Alupo on behalf of President Yoweri Museveni will this evening address the nation on the status of Ebola Virus Disease in the country.
According to the the Presidential Press Unit (PPU), the national address will be live on all radio and TV stations at 9pm.
During his last national address on 15 November, 2022, President Museveni said Ebola is easy to manage if all people cooperate and follow guidance of the health workers.
“Ebola is spread by contaminated clothing, beddings, surfaces, and body fluids such as saliva, vomitus, sweat, stool, blood and semen of sick people. The main entry points are the mouth, eyes and broken skin especially of the hands. This is why it is important to always wash hands with soap and water or use an alcohol based sanitizer or chlorine solution,”the President told Ugandans.
“Therefore, if you have had contact or been in an area where there are cases of Ebola and you are not sure whether you are a contact or not, DO NOT RUN AWAY. STAY IN YOUR HOME AND CALL THE HEALTH WORKERS IF YOU ARE SICK. When you run away, you lose time, get more sick and die. In addition, you spread the disease to your loved ones and other Local Governments like we have seen with the case in Jinja District. This stretches the health system and is expensive to control,”he added.
President Museveni further reassured the international community, tourists and conference organizers and the entire Ugandan population, that Government has put in place measures to control the outbreak so they should not worry about the virus.
“I have been informed that tourists have been canceling their trips to Uganda and some have even postponed their bookings in hotels and lodges due to the Ebola outbreak. Furthermore, international conferences and meetings have been postponed and some moved to other countries due to the Ebola outbreak. This is most unfortunate,”he said.
“The Ebola outbreak is localized to only 6 out of the 146 districts. Uganda remains safe and we welcome international guests.Government is doing all it takes to control this epidemic and avoid exportation outside Uganda.”
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