The European Union said Monday it has allocated 12 million shillings (98,300 U.S. dollars) in humanitarian funding to help Kenya take anticipatory action against the spread of the Ebola disease in the country.
The EU said the funding will support the Kenya Red Cross Society in providing much-needed training and awareness-raising sessions to communities at risk, especially along the Uganda-Kenya border towns.
“The outbreak of the Ebola disease in Uganda poses a significant threat to Kenya given the regular mass travel between the two countries and the vast socio-economic ties the two countries share,” it said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
The EU said the Kenya Red Cross Society will train volunteers in conducting community-based surveillance for early detection of Ebola and eventual referrals of positive cases to health centers.
The Kenya Red Cross ambulance operators will also be trained on how to handle and transport suspected cases and how to protect themselves.
The EU said the project will run for three months, targeting over 565,000 people in Uganda-Kenya border towns and in towns with high socio-economic interactions with Uganda, as well as along the transport route from Uganda to Kenya.
On Sept. 20, Uganda declared an outbreak of the Ebola disease in the central district of Mubende.
Uganda’s Ministry of Health figures on Oct. 20 showed that the country has so far registered 65 positive cases for the Ebola virus-Sudan strain and 27 deaths. Enditem
