Community Health Programs Archives – Africa CDC

JOINT PRESS RELEASE | Supporting Immediate Emergency Response for Cross Border Communities in Eastern Africa

Thomas Ngbonga — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 08:41:41 +0000

Nairobi, 19 April 2024 – To strengthen regional cross-border Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) readiness during public health emergencies, Africa CDC, UNICEF, IFRC, and WHO (the Collective Service core partners) as well as IOM, READY and the UK-PHRST, organized a simulation-based training from 15^th to 19^th April 2024 in Mombasa, Kenya.

This training aims to bolster cross-border RCCE for coordinated emergency preparedness and response in the region. Participating countries include Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Given the interconnectivity and the frequent emergencies in the region, including public health outbreaks such as Ebola, Marburg, cholera, and yellow fever among others, enhancing cross-border collaboration is crucial.

“In addressing the challenges of health security in region, it is crucial to recognize the imminent risks posed by dynamic cross-border movement,” stated Dr. Lul Riek, Regional Director for the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Coordinating Centres at Africa CDC. “Limited cross-border coordination and weak mechanisms for RCCE compound these challenges. By strengthening our regional collaborations and enhancing our RCCE strategies, we can more effectively deliver timely, clear, and culturally sensitive information that empowers communities to take informed actions during health crises.”

Over the past few years, RCCE has been a critical component in outbreak response in East and Southern Africa, particularly to support the social and behavioural change needed for the uptake of health interventions and effective emergency readiness and response. Through RCCE, communities are kept informed, a coordinated system is in place to manage risks, and evolving needs during crises can be managed. This shift began with preparedness activities during the 2018 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak. Since then, initiatives including the Collective Service, through the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent emergencies in the region—have reinforced the critical role of collaboration between partners for the coordinated delivery of RCCE during health emergencies and the promise of leveraging community insights to inform and tailor other key pillars of a response.

“The urgency of our mission is heightened by a myriad of emergencies including missed vaccinations, conflict, climate sensitive diseases and climate-related disasters that increasingly threaten community resilience and livelihoods in the region. These disasters exacerbate vulnerabilities, particularly among dynamic and mobile populations and for children, presenting unique challenges to our response strategies. We need to continue to work together as response actors across pillars and borders to share and rapidly respond to recommendations emerging from community feedback and social science data, for more community-centred responses,” said Lieke van de Wiel, UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Deputy Regional Director.

Over the years, RCCE activities have evolved beyond one-way risk communication by Ministries of Health and partners. Today, the focus lies in coordinated approaches that engage affected communities, listen to their concerns, and harness both qualitative and quantitative data. Community feedback mechanisms, qualitative research, and data triangulation—across online/digital and offline channels—drive targeted responses. These efforts deepen our understanding of critical behaviors for outbreak response and promote preventive measures.

“Let us leverage the power of data and evidence-based practices to inform our decision-making processes and tailor our interventions including messaging to the specific needs of each community. By embracing innovation and utilizing new technologies, we can enhance our ability to gather, analyse, and utilize RCCE data effectively, thereby enhancing our overall response capacity.” Dr Daniel Langat, Head of Surveillance and Response, Ministry of Health Kenya.

By convening key government actors and public health partners, RCCE partners aim to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs), action plans, and training packages to improve RCCE readiness and data utilization for effective community-centered responses to outbreaks and disasters. This workshop is essential for ensuring the protection of children and vulnerable communities and maintaining essential services during emergencies.

Sophie Everest, UK-Public Health Rapid Support Team RCCE Specialist at the UK Health Security Agency said: “The UK-PHRST is delighted to be involved in this partnership of RCCE experts from across Eastern and Southern Africa to share technical expertise and facilitate scenario-based exercises to help strengthen community-led outbreak responses in the future. It is the first time Ministries of Health, Africa CDC, Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, WHO and UNICEF colleagues from across these countries have come together to discuss and plan how to prioritise this work, and we look forward to supporting these plans moving forwards.”

As emergency response partners in the region navigate a complex landscape of health emergencies, exacerbated by climate change and conflict, RCCE remains a critical tool in bridging knowledge, collaboration and action, in support of resilience, preparedness, and community well-being.

Africa CDC and UNICEF, in collaboration with IFRC, WHO and UK-PHRST as well as other partners, are committed to spearheading additional cross-border RCCE capacity-building workshops, thereby reinforcing resilience, preparedness, and community well-being throughout the region.

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For media enquiries please contact:

Communication & Public Information Directorate | Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention | Email: Communications@africacdc.org and AddisMH@africacdc.org

Sasha Surandran, UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa, ssurandran@unicef.org

About Africa CDC: The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is a continental autonomous public health agency of the African Union that supports member states in their efforts to strengthen health systems and improve surveillance, emergency response, and prevention and control of diseases. Learn more at: http://www.africacdc.org

About UNICEF: UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit https://www.unicef.org/esa/. Follow UNICEF in Africa on Twitter and Facebook

About UK-PHRST: The UK-Public Health Rapid Support Team is a key international partner in infectious disease outbreak detection, prevention, preparedness and response; operational research; and capacity strengthening. We partner with low- and-middle income countries to support effective response to outbreaks before they develop into global health emergencies, and are able to deploy teams of public health specialists over a range of technical disciplines rapidly and at short notice to outbreak areas. We are an innovative partnership between the UK Health Security Agency and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, funded with UK aid by the UK Department of Health and Social Care.

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Africa CDC Deploys 500 Community-Based Volunteers to Support Cholera Response in Zambia

Thomas Ngbonga — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 07:34:00 +0000

Lusaka, 11 February 2024 – Africa CDC, in partnership with the Ministry of Health Zambia, announces the deployment of 500 community-based volunteers (CBVs) across Matero and Kanyama sub-districts in Lusaka, Zambia. This strategic support to the Republic of Zambia aims to bridge gaps in the cholera response efforts and healthcare services, particularly in the cholera hotspot areas, and foster a proactive community-focused approach to public health.

The CBVs who are deployed for three (3) months, are trusted members of their communities and will serve as a vital link between community members and healthcare providers, offering support in health education, hygiene and health promotion, community mobilisation, psychosocial support, including stigma prevention, as well as dis/misinformation management at the community level.

Speaking on behalf of the Africa CDC Director General Dr Jean Kaseya, Dr Lul Riek mentioned that the call for community health workers is in line with the Africa Union Heads of State and Government decision to expedite recruitment, training and deployment of 2 million Community Health Workers (CHWs) across the continent. ‘‘This is also consistent with the Africa CDC New Public Health Order that calls for a strong health workforce development and robust network of community healthcare workers,’’ he said.

This deployment marks a pivotal step in Africa CDC’s commitment to promoting health equity and empowering communities to take charge of their health. Through personalised interactions at the community level, CBVs will connect individuals with healthcare services, breaking down barriers to access and information and ensuring that community members receive timely care and treatment. CBVs will be disseminating information on cholera preventive measures and good hygiene practices, thereby empowering community members to participate actively in the fight against cholera.

Officiating the CBVs deployment, Honourable Sylvia Masebo, the Minister of Health of the Republic of Zambia, noted that engaging the communities on Cholera is highly critical and significant because all outbreaks start within the communities and end with active participation and engagement of community members.

The engagement of volunteers, recruited from within their communities, highlights the transformative potential of community-led solutions and reflects Africa CDC’s dedication to strengthening health systems across the continent.

In addition, Africa CDC support to the cholera response efforts in Zambia includes the deployment of 15 technical assistance officers; production of information, education and communication materials; strengthening laboratory capacity for genomic sequencing; training of 50 healthcare workers on sample collection and referral; recruitment and deployment of 150 clinical management staff including 20 Medical Officers, 100 Nurses, 4 Laboratory Scientists, 16 Clinical Officers, and 10 Environmental Officers for the next three months. Africa CDC will similarly support with the procurement of medical supplies, including Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) and disinfectants as well as strengthening cross-border surveillance to circumvent further spread control of the outbreak.

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About Africa CDC The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is a continental autonomous Public Health agency of the African Union which supports Member States in their efforts to strengthen health systems and improve surveillance, emergency response, prevention and control of diseases. For more information, visit https://africacdc.org

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Accelerating investment in community health workforce programs in Africa

Thomas Ngbonga — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 04:38:00 +0000

FROM COMMITMENT TO ACTION Accelerating investment in community health workforce programs in Africa

December 2023, Dubai: Recently, the Africa CDC participated in the first-ever COP28 Health Day in the United Arab Emirates on the sidelines of the Reaching the Last Mile Forum. The event aimed to renew the commitment to invest in and support professional community health workers (CHWs), who are essential frontline health workers.

The Africa CDC is thus pleased to announce that several partners, including the Global Fund (to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria), Africa Frontline First, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the Johnson & Johnson Foundation, the Mastercard Foundation, the Skoll Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, PEPFAR, the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), USAID, and UNICEF, have renewed and strengthened their joint support for community health workers. This is a significant step towards improving healthcare services in Africa and ensuring that CHWs receive the necessary support to carry out their duties effectively.

During the meeting, H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former president of Liberia, said, “Throughout my life, and especially as president of Liberia, I have seen the destructive darkness that disease outbreaks can bring to a country. I have also witnessed the reviving light that community health workers can bring to a devastated nation. Today’s commitment represents a strong step forward in our journey to inspire hope, save lives and bring health to all.”

The commitment builds on growing momentum for community health, partners committed to collective and coordinated investments and affirms governments’ leadership role in setting health priorities, including the Africa Frontline First Catalytic Fund, the African Union’s commitment to recruit 2 million community health workers, the Africa CDC’s New Public Health Order, the Community Health Delivery Partnership and the Monrovia Call to Action. The announcement further encourages a call to action for other partners to join the momentum to scale community health programs in alignment with the Africa CDC Continental Community Health Coordination Mechanism (CCHCM).

“Strong community health systems in every community are essential to provide accessible, quality, and cost-effective prevention and treatment services, including in emergencies,” said Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director General of the Africa CDC. “The collective commitment we join today represents our citizens’ health, well-being, and security. We welcome the support of our partners and invite others to join us as we walk towards a healthier future for all.”

The Global Fund, in particular, announced funding of US$900 million for the next three years, 74% of which will be invested in African countries. The additional funding will complement the contribution of other partners supporting community health worker programs.

“Community health workers play a crucial role in enhancing prevention, detection, and response to outbreaks, as well as maintaining HIV, TB and malaria services for rural and hard-to-reach populations,” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “Our increased commitment to supporting them is key to continue building resilient and sustainable systems for health and saving lives.”

CHW programs are underfunded with a $4.4 billion annual funding gap, and community health financing suffers from severe discoordination. They focus on specific diseases and have competing priorities. This leads to inefficient investments and under-supported systems. This status quo also undermines governments’ agenda and reinforces the lack of political prioritisation and insufficient domestic resources for community health.

Africa CDC is therefore leading the conversations and efforts to get the commitment and accelerated mobilisation of funding from all partners to align to the continental coordination mechanism for the institutionalisation, integration, and sustainability of community health workforce programs.

The leadership of Africa CDC and, indeed, the Africa Union Commission welcome this ground-breaking commitment at the COP28 in Dubai and express our appreciation to His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and the Chief Executive Officer of Reaching the Last Mile and all partners for making this commitment.

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About Africa CDC
Africa CDC is a continental autonomous health agency of the African Union established to support public health initiatives of Member States and strengthen the capacity of their general health institutions to detect, prevent, control and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats based on science, policy, and data-driven interventions and programmes. For more information, please visit: http://www.africacdc.org

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Africa CDC inaugurates the First-ever Continental Community Health Coordination Mechanism

Thomas Ngbonga — Sun, 19 Nov 2023 06:38:00 +0000

10 November 2023, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The African Union member states have made significant progress in strengthening community health systems across the continent. The findings of recent studies carried out by the African Union Commission, Africa CDC and its partners show that, despite the progress made, certain challenges still need to be addressed. Notably, the inadequate funding and sustainability of national community health programs, for which only 21% of 42 participating Member States have an investment case, gaps in the community health information system, for which 71% of countries still use a paper-based data collection system and 32% have no database of community health workers; gaps in community health policies and guidelines, for which only 55% of countries have a costed strategic plan and 18% have no plan at all, among other challenges coupled with lack of coordination of players characterised by CH programs verticalisation.

The fragmentation and inadequate coordination seen at the country level is also reflected at the regional and continental level. Therefore, coordination and synchronization among various sectors and stakeholders is essential, particularly for CH policy and strategy development and operationalization, joint planning, implementation, management and monitoring and evaluation of the efforts being put forward in strengthening community health in Africa. A need for a robust coordination platform and mechanism that can bring together all Member States and other community health stakeholders sharing a common goal towards building resilient, integrated, sustainable and effective community health workforce, programs and systems in Africa is required.

As a continental Institution, Africa CDC through the Division of Disease Control and Prevention held the 2^nd High-Level Meeting on the Community Health Workers Programme in Addis Ababa-Ethiopia from 8^th-10th November, 2023. This meeting brought together over 42 Member States, partners and other community health stakeholders.

This meeting aimed to set up and launch the Continental Community Health Coordination Mechanism, consisting of a Continental Community Health Task Force and Technical Working Group to oversee the Institutionalization, Integration and Coordination of Community Health Worker Programme in Africa to achieve the call for One Plan, One Budget and One Monitoring and Evaluation Plan on the continent in line with Africa CDC strategic direction, the new Public Health Order and the 2 million CHWs initiative.

The task force is constituted of representatives of the Africa Union Commission, Africa CDC, Member States, and implementing partners championing community health on the continent. The role of the Task Force is to provide overall leadership and guidance to the work of the Continental Community Health Coordination Mechanism and will also support in advocacy efforts.

The Technical Working Group has three sub-groups namely: The Sub-group on Community Health Policy, Guidelines, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), The Sub-group on Community Health Financing and Sustainability and The Sub-group on Monitoring and Evaluation.

Elected Officials of the Continental Community Health Coordinating Mechanism includes:

Technical Working Group: Dr. Richard Kabanda, Director of Health Promotion Ministry Health of Uganda was Unanimously elected as the Chair of the Technical Working Group which will be co-chaired by Africa CDC.
Sub-group on CH Policy, Guidelines, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP): The Sub-group will be chaired by Dr Douaa Sally Head of Central Administration of Family Planning Services and Commodities and Director of National Program of CHWs from Egypt and Co-Chaired by the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Sub-group on Community Health Financing and Sustainability: The Sub-group will be chaired by Mr. Olasford Weah Director of Community Health Services from the Republic of Liberia and Co-Chaired by Africa Frontline First (AFF).
Sub-group on Monitoring and Evaluation: The Sub-group on Monitoring and Evaluation will be chaired by Dr. Adjoba Francoise Kadja Director of Community Health and Health Promotion from Cote d’Ivoire and Co-Chaired by UNICEF.

In his inaugural speech, the Head of Division of Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Mohammed Abdulaziz expressed his profound joy to see the Continental Structures being formed to improve community health in Africa. According to him, the leadership under H.E Jean Kaseya will continue to engage Member States and Key Partners to ensure the good health and well-being of Africa. Dr. Mohammed further underscored the importance and critical role of Community Health Workers in the delivery of integrated service at Member States’ levels. Similarly, representatives of our key partners; UNICEF, Africa Frontline First, IFRC and UNAIDS endorsed the established structures and promised to support its operationalization.

At the end of the High-Level meeting, the various sub-groups came up with their programme of work for the next three months, which will be reviewed and further given a push to the end of the first year of operationalization.

About the Africa CDC

Africa CDC is a continental autonomous health agency of the African Union established to support public health initiatives of Member States and strengthen the capacity of their public health institutions to detect, prevent, control and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats, based on science, policy, and data-driven interventions and programmes. Learn more at the www.africacdc.org

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