Uganda Health: Ebola vaccine program begins

World
Europe

01:27

Uganda has started its Ebola vaccination program after acquiring over two thousand doses. This is the first time the country has taken vaccine measures against the disease. Leon Ssenyange has more.

Over one thousand five hundred frontline health workers will be the first recipients of the vaccination.

The medical and non-medical personnel within some health facilities in western Uganda are at the highest risk of contracting Ebola.

It is the first time that Uganda has used a vaccine as a preventative measure against Ebola. The experimental vaccine -ZEBOV is highly protective and has demonstrated it can work to contain the Ebola virus before.

RUTH ACENG MINISTER OF HEALTH, UGANDA "This vaccine is very safe as evidenced from its previous use in Guinea, Sierra Leone and in the Democratic Republic of Congo where no issues whatsoever about its safety has arisen."

Currently, Uganda has no confirmed Ebola cases. But the country's health ministry continues to implement preparedness activities in seven high-risk districts bordering the DRC. According to the World Health Organisation, the current Ebola outbreak in the DRC has registered a total of 250 confirmed cases and 180 deaths.

LEON SSENYANGE KAMPALA, UGANDA "The flare-up of the disease continues to pose a high regional risk. Leon Ssenyange, CGTN, Kampala, Uganda."