CAPSCA CAPACITY BUILDING VISIT FOR UGANDA AND ENTEBBE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
The East African Community Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (EAC- CASSOA) conducted a Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA), State and Airport capacity building visit at Entebbe International Airport from 14th to 17th July 2025. Stakeholders engaged during the visit included Ministry of Health, Ministry of Works and Transport, Port Health, Airport Operators, Ground Handling Companies, Customs, Immigration, Veterinary, Security agencies and Uganda Civil Aviation Authority.
The main objective of CAPSCA is to address matters related to Public Health because it was realized that Air Transport plays a big part in fueling the spread of communicable diseases among various countries.
The EAC-CASSOA expert, Dr. Alexander Mkwizu thanked the various stakeholders for the cooperation they exhibited during the visit and emphasized that everyone in civil aviation should take public health as their individual responsibility.
The General Manager Entebbe International Airport, Mr. Emmanuel Barungi, thanked all stakeholders who participated in the exercise and thanked EAC-CASSOA for the mission. He further pledged that the recommendations that had been made to ensure effective public health mechanisms at Entebbe International Airport would be put in place in due course. He further said that an Airport CAPSCA Committee would be established soon.
The Point of Entry Focal Person, Ministry of Health, Dr. Moses Ebong thanked EAC-CASSOA for the assessment and pledged continuous commitment from the Ministry on implementation of recommendations. Port Health involves health screening of passengers, medical emergencies, referrals, collaboration with regional and international organisations on health-related matters regarding civil aviation. He added that three new thermal screeners were recently donated to Entebbe International Airport by Ministry of Health and International Organization of Migration and these were positioned at in various critical areas at the Airport.