EBOLA IN UGANDA: Our Measures to Protect EMERGENCY’s Facility, Staff, and Patients from Ebola.

On 20 September, the Ugandan authorities announced an outbreak of Ebola in Mubende district, about 25 miles from the capital Kampala. On 12 October, the first death in Kampala was confirmed.

It is not the first time Uganda has been forced to deal with an outbreak of Ebola; in 2019 there was one in Kesese district, in the west of the country. 

Measures taken by our staff in Entebbe

It is essential to protect medical facilities from the virus in order not to interrupt treatment of patients. At our Children’s Surgical Hospital in Entebbe, staff are following specific procedures to prevent the spread of the virus. These ensure maximum protection and safety not only for patients and hospital staff but also those accompanying and visiting them, suppliers and anyone else coming to the facility.

The procedures are based on our experience in Sierra Leone from 2014 to 2015, fighting the Ebola epidemic that struck the country.

Thanks to procedures like these, our hospitals around the world have been safe from contagion and have never been forced to interrupt their work, even for one day.

Among the various measures in place in Entebbe are a checkpoint at the hospital entrance, flows for access to different areas, taking everyone’s temperature every time they enter, hand washing stations, questionnaires to identify potential contact with the regions of the outbreak, and personal protective equipment.