U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar met with the Republic of Uganda President Yoweri Museveni this week to discuss a multilateral response to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The United States has long had a partnership with Uganda on public health. Museveni and Azar talked about the need to strengthen surveillance efforts and curtail the spread of Ebola.
Azar and the U.S. delegation toured the Uganda Virus Research Institute-Viral Special Pathogens Laboratory (UVRI-VSP). The USVRI-VSP lab has been a leader in the region in detecting and responding to outbreaks rapidly. Azar and Ugandan Minister of Health Jane Aceng both expressed the importance of the partnership that the United States and Uganda has fostered, especially for promoting their shared global health security goals. Azar said global health security is a top priority for the Trump Administration as HHS and its partners have helped Uganda to increase its capacity to deal with outbreaks like Ebola.
During his trip, Azar and the delegation also visited a treatment site run by The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) near Lake Victoria. TASO has developed differentiated service delivery models, which include home-based care followed by community-based care. Azar was able to see the effects of this work and hear the patients tell their stories of living with HIV.