A Uganda Red Cross Society worker in protective gear is sprayed with disinfectant during the evacuation of the body of a suspected Ebola victim in Kampala on May 26, 2026. [AFP]
Uganda will deploy medical experts and establish additional Ebola treatment centres in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, stepping up regional efforts to contain the rapidly expanding outbreak as hospitals fill beyond capacity and frontline health workers threaten to down their tools over delayed salaries.
The announcement by Uganda's Health Minister, Chris Baryomunsi, comes as the epidemic pushes the health system in eastern Congo to its limits. Treatment centres are operating at 96 per cent bed occupancy, while healthcare workers in Ituri Province, the epicentre of the outbreak, have warned they could suspend services unless long-standing salary delays are resolved.
"Priority is health first. Let us make our people healthy and free of disease. Once we establish these treatment centres, we shall eventually open the borders. If we are sure to get all patients to treatment centres, we can trace the contacts, they are isolated and follow up, then that will not be a worry," Baryomunsi said.
His remarks stress growing regional concern that the outbreak could spill across borders if it is not brought under control.
