Kampala, December 9, 2020 — The United States through the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is proud to support Uganda’s efforts to combat COVID-19 with the donation of critical COVID-19 testing reagents and personal protective equipment valued at $1.87 million.
“The U.S. Mission in Uganda contributes more than $500 million to Uganda’s health sector every year and we are pleased to be able to provide this additional assistance from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the American people to help in the fight against COVID-19,” U.S. Embassy Kampala’s Deputy Chief of Mission Christopher M. Krafft said at a hand-over ceremony marking the donation of the COVID-19 supplies at Uganda’s Ministry of Health December 9. “We will continue to work hand-in-hand with our Ugandan partners, and together, we will overcome this pandemic.”
The $1.87 million of supplies include testing materials to test approximately 50,000 COVID-19 samples. In addition, the donation includes personal protective equipment (PPE) like N95 masks, gloves, surgical gowns, and face shields. These contributions will be used to support deployment of a Ministry of Health (MoH) mobile lab that will bring assistance to Ugandans who live far from health facilities that have COVID testing capabilities. The mobile lab will be jointly staffed by MoH and the Uganda Virus Research Institute, a longstanding partner of U.S. government agencies like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USAID – U.S. Agency for International Development, DTRA, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through training, mentorship, laboratory upgrades, equipment procurement, and research collaboration for more than three decades.
Today the first tranche of supplies in this donation was delivered to Uganda’s Ministry of Health. Additional supplies through this donation will be delivered over the next two months. This donation affirms the U.S. government’s continued commitment to support the people of Uganda. The U.S. government provides around $936 million in annual assistance to the Ugandan people, including $43 million to date in 2020 to support the country’s COVID-19 response.
For additional information, please contact:
Dorothy Nanyonga
Information Assistant
U.S. Mission to Uganda
Tel: +256 414 306 410
Cell: +256 772 138 194
Email: KampalaUSEmbassyPress@state.gov
