` THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA MINISTRY OF HEALTH PRESS STATEMENT AHEAD OF THE GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY AGENDA (GHSA) CONFERENCE HON. DR. JANE RUTH ACENG MINISTRY OF HEALTH October 24, 2017 1
PRESS STATEMENT AHEAD OF THE GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY AGENDA CONFERENCE On behalf of the Ministry of Health and the Government of Uganda, I take this opportunity to welcome you all to this press briefing, convened to inform you about the Global Health Security Agenda conference that Uganda will be hosting for the first time ever and that Uganda is the first African country to host the Annual GHSA Ministerial Meeting. This year, this conference will be held under the theme Health Security for all: Engaging Communities, Non-Governmental Organizations and the Private Sector from 25 27 October, 2017 at Commonwealth Speke Resort, Munyonyo. The Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), launched in February 2014 in the United States is an effort by nations, international organizations, and civil society to accelerate progress toward a world safe and secure from infectious disease threats; to promote global health security as an international priority; and to facilitate progress towards full implementation of the World Health Organization (IHR, 2005) and other relevant global health security frameworks. The primary goal of GHSA is to help countries build their capacity to contribute towards a world safe from infectious disease threats and to elevate global health security as a national and global priority. GHSA pursues a multilateral and multisectoral approach to strengthen both the global capacity and nations own capacity to prevent, detect and respond to human and animal infectious disease threats whether naturally occurring, accidental or intentional. Uganda was one of two countries chosen as Global Health Security (GHS) demonstration countries in 2013, the other being Vietnam. From March- September, 2013, the Ugandan Ministry of Health and United States Centers for Disease Control implemented a demonstration project for rapid GHS upgrades across three pillars Laboratory, Information systems and the Public Health Emergency operations center. Uganda did very well in the pilot and joined the GHSA member countries. 2
From the time Uganda became a member of GHSA, we have registered a number of successes in line with the 11 action packages agreed upon by the member states. These include, but not limited to; Establishment of an antimicrobial resistance committee that follows up on resistance to antibiotics. Developed and launched a one Health Frame work comprising of Ministries of Agriculture and Animal Industry and fisheries, Tourism & wildlife, Water& environment, Security, Defense within which we work to control emerging and re-emerging infections. We have developed policies for biosecurity and biosafety which helped us to reorganize storage of our biological specimens into a secure repository Scaled up immunization coverage for all antigens. With support from CDC, we constructed the National Health Laboratory Services complex in Butabika. In collaboration with CDC and the School of Public Health we started a field epidemiology training program to train field epidemiologist with the aim of achieving the target of one epidemiologist per 200,000 populations. We are also training in basic epidemiology and integrated disease surveillance Established an Emergency Operations Center to coordinate information flow and response activities for all public health threats. The process of implementing the GHSA has evolved and led to concrete commitments by countries and other partners. Broadly, these are driven by the annual ministerial meetings, punctuated by technical and Steering Committee meetings, the latter of which took place at WHO, Geneva in 2016 and 2017, Bali, Indonesia in 2016, and in Cape Town, South Africa in 2015. Member States have been sharing their experiences and good practices through GHSA meetings. Running under different themes, these meetings have been a driving force for moving the health security agenda forward In 2016, 8 components of the International Health Regulations(IHR) were combined with the 11 packages of the Global Heath Security Agenda(GHSA) to form a Joint External Evaluation (JEE) tool. The JEE process has been used by GHSA member states to identify gaps in their capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious 3
disease threats. The JEEs have identified important gaps for many countries where there is inadequate or minimal capacity at the sub national and community levels. Uganda was one of the first GHSA member states to undergo a full-fledged GHSA assessment in 2015 and a follow on JEE assessment in July 2017. The results of this assessment will be presented at the Ministerial Meeting and will further inform the process for other member states. Uganda has served as a regional model for numerous African countries since the launch of the GHSA in 2014. It has provided leadership in advancing the GHSA as exemplified by the technical support it provided to the West Africa Ebola epidemic using materials developed in Uganda including training, guidelines, standard operating procedures, and reporting tools. The Government of Uganda is hosting this high-level Ministerial Meeting as a platform for member states to share and learn from each other s experiences in implementing the GHSA action packages, as well as in integrating GHS actions into relevant national and sub national programs in a sustainable and all-inclusive way. At the end of the meeting, we will expect participants to have acquired a better understanding of: (1) Approaches to strengthen health security ownership at national, sub national and community levels. This will be exemplified and supported by country experiences, innovations and a review of available tools to drive GHSA action packages at all levels. (2) Roles of non-governmental stakeholders and the private sector in GHSA. The aim will be for the GHSA member states to develop strategies to engage these stakeholders by 2018. (3) Adoption of good practices for enhancing and sustaining GHSA programs at all levels. This three-day meeting will run in plenary and group sessions, panel discussions, exhibitions of action packages and site visits, at the end of which the ministers will issue a declaration. The Kampala 4th Annual GHSA High Level Ministerial Meeting will reflect the crosscutting issues and relevance of the One Health approach to GHSA. 4
Finally, I wish to thank all key stakeholders, MDA s and development partners, who have worked tirelessly with my Ministry to ensure the success of the GHSA. UPDATE ON THE MARBURG OUTBREAK The number of cumulative cases currently stands at two - One confirmed and one probable case. Two health workers who treated the confirmed case in Kapchorwa hospital have developed Marburg like symptoms. Blood samples have been taken off and sent to Uganda Virus Research Institute for testing. In the interim, these health workers have been isolated and are being monitored and counseled by our experts. By 23 rd October 2017, a total of 155 contacts had been line-listed in Kapchorwa and Kween districts; 109 in Kween district and 46 contacts in Kapchorwa district. In Kween district, 66 of the contacts have passed the mandatory 21 days of follow up from the time of contact with the first probable case and the remaining 43 are still under contact follow up by the teams on the ground In Kapchorwa district, 22 of contacts have also passed the mandatory 21 days of follow up from the time of contact with the first probable case and the remaining 24 are still under contact follow up by the teams on the ground. We have assembled a team of 7 contact tracers, trained them, and provided them with support to conduct adequate contact tracing. Our multi- stakeholder teams of experts will remain on ground in Kapchorwa and Kween district until the outbreak is fully contained. I thank you. For God and My Country Hon. Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng Minister of Health 5