Uganda is going to deploy frontline health workers on the Uganda-Tanzania border crossing to Mutukula as a response measure for the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The minister of health Dr Jane Ruth Aceng has said. She revealed this during the 25th Health Sector Joint Review Mission in Kampala today.
Dr Aceng said her ministry has resolved to deploy health workers as a protective measure. She, however, adds that the development is not a confirmation of Ebola in Tanzania.
“I am not saying that Tanzania has Ebola. We are planning to deploy to protect the country at all fronts,” she said.
This follows concerns from the World Health Organisation (WHO), about Tanzania’s obstinacy in investigating the suspicious death of a female student who succumbed to an Ebola-like disease a few weeks ago. The student died on September 8, in Dar-es Salaam, after travelling to the towns of Songea, Njombe, and Mbeya.
According to WHO reports, testing performed by the Tanzanian National Health Laboratory reportedly indicated that the student was positive of the virus.