Travelers Entering/Exiting Uganda Required to Fill out Online Digital Health Declaration Forms

The Government of Uganda issued a number of guidelines to be followed by travelers at all points of entry and exit, and these guidelines took effect from 14^th November 2022.

Travelers flying in and out of Uganda will be required to fill out an online digital health declaration form within one day (24 hours) of flight time. This new directive is not meant to create panic but create assurance among travelers that their safety is guaranteed, amidst the fears of Ebola.

For travelers arriving in Uganda, the digital health declaration form simply requires filling out the name of the traveler, point of entry, country of residence, date of birth, age, Nationality, sex, email, passport number, passport expiry date, arrival date, country of embarkment, mode of transport, the purpose of your visit, airport of Dismemberment, flight or vehicle number, seat number, a number of health questions (that include if you had any of the listed Ebola signs and symptoms in the past two days, if you are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and when you got your last vaccination shot, as well as your yellow fever card number and date of vaccination).

For the visitors leaving Uganda, you are also required to provide information on the list of all districts you visited while in Uganda, whether you were exposed to blood or body fluids, whether you worked in an animal or human laboratory, whether you live in the same household as a person who had Ebola, whether you handled a corpse or participated in a funeral during your stay in Uganda, whether you have been identified or interviewed as a contact, and many other questions.

The Digital Health Declaration Form can be downloaded using the link https://poe-screening.health.go.ug and should be filed within 24 hours of your flight time (whether arriving or departing Uganda). After filling in the required information, click submit and you will receive a unique QR Code. You can either screenshot this code or print it out to be presented to the Health staff (at the airport or any other point of entry/exit).

These guidelines are in addition to the already existing COVID-19 pre-entry guidelines that require presenting proof of full COVID-19 vaccination and for travelers who aren’t vaccinated (or with partial vaccination), a negative PCR test result taken within 72 hours prior to traveling is required.

Since Ebola was declared in Uganda on 20^th September 2022, travelers have contemplated traveling, postponed, or canceled their trips. This was also confirmed by the President during his 4^th Ebola Address and he reassured the country and travelers to continue with their trips. While Ebola is one of the rare and deadly diseases, it is only localized to 6 of the 146 districts and is being managed. Also, Ebola is spread by coming into contact with body fluids (semen, urine, saliva, sweat, vomit, and vaginal fluids of an infected person. For the places our visitors explore, such contacts are avoided in the best ways possible.

Temperature checks, mandatory hand washing, and sanitizing are also provided in public places. This means the country is very safe and continues to welcome International Travelers. Other ways to prevent the spread of Ebola include avoiding funeral or burial practices that involve someone who died from Ebola avoiding contact with animals (like bats, non-human primates like monkeys) and forest bats, and avoiding semen from a man who recovered from Ebola until tests have confirmed negative.