CHF 204,815 has been allocated from the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) in delivering immediate assistance to some 41,008 beneficiaries. Unearmarked funds to repay DREF are encouraged.

Summary: The District Health Offices in Nebbi Hoima and Buliisa announced an outbreak of cholera in their districts. In Hoima, it has affected Kaiso Village in Tonya Parish situated in Buseruka Sub-county while in Nebbi, three subcounties of Akworo, Panyimuri and Pakwach Town councils in Parambo Sub-county are the most affected. New cases in Buliisa District have been identified in Butiaba Sub-county, Butiaba Town Council and Kigwera Sub-county. A cumulative total of 477 cases have so far been recorded in the three districts with 11 deaths (Refer to Table 1). The URCS branches in the respective districts have mobilized 120 community based volunteers, some of whom were already trained hygiene promoters engaged in the previous EU funded water and sanitation project in the region and readied them for full engagement and mobilization of the affected and at-risk communities against the spread of the cholera epidemic.

Based on population movements within the country and constant interaction with neighbouring countries, there is a potential risk of these diseases spreading to other districts within Uganda as well as to neighbouring countries in the Eastern Africa Region.

The URCS intends to provide intensified community based diseases surveillance and health promotion campaigns in the 3 affected districts in order to control the spread of cholera by employing the appropriate toolkits in the new Epidemic Control for Volunteers (ECV) package.

This operation is expected to be implemented over three months, and will therefore be completed by 26 July 2012; a Final Report will be made available three months after the end of the operation (by October, 2012).