Japan to provide $3.5 mil. in Ebola aid to Congo, Uganda

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japan will provide $3.5 million in emergency grant aid to help contain Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, the government said Monday.

The assistance, to be delivered through international organizations, will support urgent humanitarian needs in areas including health care, water and sanitation.

“Japan will continue working with the two governments and the international community to bring the outbreaks under control as quickly as possible,” Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told a news conference.

Of the total, $3 million will go to Congo, formerly known as Zaire, which has reported 956 Ebola cases and 247 deaths, according to the Japanese government.

Uganda, which has recorded 20 cases and two deaths, will receive $500,000, it said.

In mid-May, the World Health Organization declared Ebola outbreaks in the two African nations as a public health emergency after dozens of suspected cases proved fatal.