Ebola: Washington pumps additional USD 20 million to Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan – The Tanzania Times

Washington has forked out an additional US$20 million in funding to Ebola preparedness efforts in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Sudan. 

The United States funded preparedness activities will support national emergency operations centers; enhance capacities for surveillance, testing, border screening, and infection prevention and control; enable procurement and distribution of critical commodities; and prepare countries to manage potential patients with Ebola disease.

Through more than US$220 million the Department of State is providing directly for the Ebola response and preparedness efforts, implementing organizations continue to support contact tracing, border and point-of-entry screening, response efforts at dozens of health clinics in affected areas, and community education to combat misinformation about how Ebola spreads.

Some of the recent United States funded response partner activities include

Commodity Procurement and Delivery

In the DR Congo, the United Nations’ Children Fund (UNICEF) has delivered 150 metric tons of critical water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and infection prevention and control supplies to frontline health facilities in Bunia, enough to meet the immediate needs of approximately 100,000 people for six months.

Border Screening and Surveillance

In Uganda, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) trained approximately 1,000 Village Health Teams to strengthen community-based surveillance.

In South Sudan, the International Organization for Migration conducted more than 30,000 traveler screenings, strengthening early detection capacity.

Contact Tracing and Risk Communication

In the DR Congo, U.S.-funded implementers continue to support safe and dignified burials (SDBs) of deceased Ebola patients, a critical activity to reduce further transmission of Ebola.

Recent SDB activities include training dozens of members of SDB teams in the Rwampara and Nizi health zones.

In the DRC, UNICEF has trained 24 local “Decontamination Teams” in high-risk health zones in Ituri. These teams carry out rapid decontamination of households and public spaces following a confirmed or suspected case, helping to break chains of transmission, and are positioned to respond within 24 hours of an alert.

In the DRC, Family Health International (FHI) 360 reached more than 1,200 individuals with community engagement activities, including community dialogues at schools and prisons, to enhance awareness of Ebola prevention measures, dispel false rumors related to the outbreak, and build trust in Ebola treatment centers and response teams.

Diagnostic Supplies

The IOM deployed a mobile laboratory in the DR Congo to the outbreak zone in Beni to expand diagnostic capacity.

In the DRC, FHI 360 delivered thousands of liters of fuel to labs to mitigate service interruptions caused by power outages and continued providing vehicles to ensure uninterrupted laboratory mobility and specimen transport.

Detection and Treatment

In the DRC, U.S. implementers MedAir and International Medical Corps are supporting 100 health facilities in Ebola-affected areas as of June 8.

These facilities include six specialized Ebola treatment centers and 94 health centers that provide broader health care and prevent transmission, screen suspect cases, and transport patients to dedicated Ebola treatment facilities.

Leveraging Private Sector Involvement to Support Response Efforts

The United States, through implementing partner Airlink, continues to deliver critical response supplies to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Bunia, DRC.

These shipments consist of two distinct consignments: safe and dignified burial kits, along with separate infection prevention and control supplies.

Airlink, through its extensive partnerships with commercial airlines, utilized donated cargo space to transport the commodities from Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Entebbe, Uganda, where Airlink subsequently used U.S. funding for the last-mile transportation to Bunia.

The Department of State, in close coordination with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and in partnership with the governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda, and other countries in the region, is continuing to mount a rapid and comprehensive response to the Ebola outbreak. 

The Department is announcing ​US$20 million in additional funding toward the Department’s ongoing Ebola response and preparedness efforts, bringing the total direct funding for the Department of State’s Ebola response to more than $220 million. 

This additional funding will help support comprehensive preparedness activities in countries surrounding the current outbreak, including in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Sudan.

This funding is in addition to ​US$350 million for Ebola response and other humanitarian assistance in the DRC, South Sudan, and Uganda, as part of the US$1.8 billion in assistance to UN OCHA announced on May 14.  The United States continues to be the largest financial contributor to the Ebola response.