Kampala: Uganda has criticized air travel restrictions imposed by countries including the United States over an Ebola outbreak which has spilt over from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo as “unfair.”
The east African country’s response to the latest outbreak of the deadly haemorrhagic fever has been broadly praised by public health officials, with only two deaths out of 19 confirmed cases since the alarm was sounded in the DRC in mid-May.
Almost all of them were Congolese nationals who had crossed the border from their home country, where more than 676 cases have been confirmed and 136 people have died since May 15.
“Today, the Ugandan Health Ministry, together with the Civil Aviation Authority, Ambassadors, and airline operators serving Uganda, discussed the unfair travel restrictions imposed on Uganda due to the current Ebola situation,” Diana Atwine, permanent secretary for the health ministry, said on X on Friday.
“While we appreciate the need for vigilance, blanket restrictions undermine confidence in countries that report outbreaks openly, and are not commensurate with the actual risk.”
