UGANDA IN BILATERAL TALKS WITH DRC TO BOOST EBOLA TREATMENT CENTER IN AR’U

Betty Otekat Akello Arua RCC Handing Over Documents from the Meetings in Ar’u to Commissioner MoH and Team Leader Dr. Alfred Driwale During an Engagement in Arua City on Wednesday.

URN

Ugandan health and security officials are in high level talks over joint management of the Ebola treatment center in Ar’u in DR Congo.

Currently the government of DR Congo has established a satellite center to manage the pandemic but with limited capacity, a situation that is reportedly forcing many Congolese to cross into West Nile with the hope of receiving health care for Ebola Virus Disease.

According to the Ebola situational report for last week, Ar’u had four Ebola cases while Ariwara town has five cases, posing a risk of importation of the disease into West Nile.

As of June 16, 2026, the Ministries of Health in Uganda and the DRC report 827 confirmed cases of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus and 194 confirmed deaths.

During a joint meeting held in Ar’u between Ugandan and DR Congo Security and Health officials early this week, Ugandan officials established that the Ebola treatment center in Ar’u in the DR Congo requires boosting in terms of personnel and equipment to help manage the epidemic before it further spreads to West Nile and Uganda in general.

Doctor Alfred Driwale, a Commissioner in the Ministry of Health and member of the National Ebola taskforce -also team leader for the Ugandan delegation to DR Congo meeting in Ar’u, told URN that they are now in high level talks to agree on what the government of Uganda can do to add on to what is already in place in Ar’u.

Doctor Driwale further disclosed that though the DR Congo government already set up a facility to manage the disease, they have established that there is need for a joint and comprehensive response team, which can help contain the already increasing threat of Ebola to the people of West Nile.

Meanwhile following two meetings that have been held to boost the Ebola treatment center in Ar’u, security and health officials have maintained high surveillance and patrols along the border with DR Congo.

But according to Betty Otekat Akello, the Resident City Commissioner Arua and Chairperson Ebola Taskforce, given the proximity of Arua City to DRC and the increasing number of illegal entries per day from Congo to Arua, there is a high risk of Ebola importation in to West Nile.

Otekat said the current Ebola threat in DR Congo coupled with the generally negative perception on the epidemic, requires more supportive effort from Uganda to DR Congo’s treatment center in Ar’u.

Ar’u town lies about 15 kilometers west of Vurra while Ariwara town is situated less than 20 kilometers west of Odramacaku border in Arua City with many of its people travelling for businesses every day to Arua City.

Though there is currently no positive Ebola case in West Nile, Arua City and West Nile have one suspected case under management at Isolation Unit in Oli Health Center Four Isolation Ward, 33 cumulative suspected cases, 22 cumulative contacts and two deaths of unconfirmed cause.