Responding to the Ebola Outbreak in Uganda with Training and Support
On January 30, 2025, the Ministry of Health of Uganda (MOH) declared an outbreak of the Sudan Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) in Kampala. The first case in the capital, Kampala, was a male health worker who unfortunately succumbed to the disease. The MOH immediately launched measures including contact tracing to prevent further spread and treat those who would be found positive with EVD.
Together with our partners, Seed Global Health took swift action to strengthen infection prevention and control measures in health facilities to help control the outbreak. We facilitated infection prevention and control (IPC) training for 30 emergency medicine residents and health workers at the emergency department of Mulago National Referral Hospital, the country’s main referral hospital and the teaching hospital for Makerere College of Health Sciences.
The training combined both theoretical and practical components, with a strong emphasis on hands-on infection prevention and control techniques. Participants were trained in managing different levels of contamination and exposure, equipping them with essential skills to protect both themselves and their patients against EVD and other infectious diseases.
Gaston Ombah Lodiha, a 3rd-year Emergency Medicine resident at Makerere University, attended the training at Mulago National Referral Hospital and said, “The training was conducted at the perfect time. I learned how essential infection prevention and control are, especially in periods of outbreaks such as Ebola. My greatest takeaway was the importance of always staying alert, conducting risk assessments, and choosing the right personal protective equipment before providing care – to safeguard both patients and health workers.”
To further support frontline health worker protection, we also delivered personal protective equipment (PPE) to Mulago National Referral Hospital, ensuring that healthcare workers have the necessary equipment to safely manage patients. The equipment included gloves, masks, gumboots, face shields, surgical gowns among others and were received by the Deputy Executive Director, Dr. John Sekabira.
In his remarks, Dr. Sekabira thanked Seed Global Health for the timely support and emphasized the need for further training for health workers to enable them effectively manage, screen for EVD and make appropriate referrals for further management of suspect cases.
With the second EVD patient confirmed at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital, this training was extended to Mbale Regional Referral Hospital, where over 75 health workers received training on infection prevention and control. The hospital was also supported with personal protective equipment to further ensure the safe management of patients at this hospital.
Additionally, we conducted four training session using ECHO – a virtual tele-mentoring platform – so far to reach health workers across Uganda and beyond. The virtual trainings allow health workers to engage in discussions and gain expert guidance on infection prevention and control best practices. To date these specific trainings have reached over 1,000 health workers who were equipped with standard procedures on infection prevention and control and will further focus on various topics such as surveillance, case definition, isolation protocols and more that will boost health workers knowledge on EVD.
We are committed to strengthening Uganda’s response to the Ebola outbreak. We are equipping frontline workers with critical skills and resources, safeguarding communities, and mitigating the spread of the virus.
