The fight against an outbreak of the deadly Hepatitis E in war-ravaged northern Ugandan has made substantial progress as the number of new cases and deaths are declining by half, an official said in Kampala on Monday.
Stephen Malinga, Uganda's Health Minister, told reporters that since the six million dollar emergency response was launched in late July, the situation in Kitgum district, where the virus struck first late last year, had much improved.
"Only two new deaths were recorded in the week ending 14th September, bringing the cumulative number of deaths to 124, indicating a case fatality rate of 1.5 per cent," said the minister.
"That is quite reasonable in any epidemic," he added.
Official figures showed, however, that during the same period a total of 133 new cases were registered compared to the 129 cases in the week before, indicating a three per cent increase.
Malinga attributed the increase to the onset of heavy rains in recent weeks which had increased transmission in communities, where safe water sources are limited.
Health experts say that the spread of the viral disease, transmitted via contaminated food and drinks, has been fuelled by the appalling hygiene in the area, where many people displaced by a two-decade long insurgency live in squalid camps.
A total of 8,157 people have been infected so far since the epidemic broke out in October last year, spreading from neighbouring southern Sudan.
Malinga said that the health ministry had established a permanent technical team in the district, teaching residents about proper hygiene, improvement of sanitation through construction of bore holes and pit latrines.
He said though UN agencies and international non-governmental organizations were helping to contain the disease, there was limited collaboration among government departments, leaving the bulk of the work to the understaffed heath sector.