Uganda Importing Ebola Trial Drug

The health minister in Uganda, Dr Jane Aceng, has announced that the country is set to receive a trail therapeutic treatment for Ebola in the next two weeks.

The drug has been cleared by the National Council of Science and Technology and National Drugs Authority and will be imported with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Commenting on the plans Dr Aceng stated, “It is still a trial drug. We can only administer it in a research. Uganda is ready to go. Our threat of Ebola has not reduced. We shall maintain ourselves in a response mode because the borders are still open and Ebola in DR Congo is not going down and the affected areas are near us.”

According to Professor Pontiano Kaleebu of the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) the drugs can increase survival rates when compared with supportive treatment measures, which consists mainly of fluid and nutrition.

Vaccination efforts continue, concentrated on health workers and those contacts of the confirmed Ebola cases identified.