The Seychelles Ministry of Health is collaborating with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Africa Center for Disease Control (Africa CDC), the United States Center for Disease Control (US CDC), the West African Health Organization (WAHO), the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), and the United States Center for Disease Control to host the third African Regional training of trainers’ workshop on Public Health Emergency Operations Centers (PHEOCs) at the Savoy Resort Hotel in Seychelles from May 2–14, 2023 (RKI).
The last two PHEOCs Training of Trainers Workshops in the African Area were held in Ethiopia and Kenya in 2019 and 2021, respectively. This one is the third, and it will draw on the COVID-19 response experiences of nations in the Region and in the Seychelles, making it distinctive. This workshop is being attended by 42 individuals from 27 African countries and regional organizations.
The primary goal is to prepare the trained instructors to develop PHEOCs in their home nations, mainly via teaching others at the sub-national level how to manage incidents and PHEOCs. The trained trainers are also anticipated to participate in simulation exercises to evaluate systems and skills, as well as to perform intra- and post-action evaluations, and serve as lead nations in the African Region’s pool of specialists in managing health emergencies.
The workshop was officially launched today at the Savoy Resort Hotel in the Seychelles by the Minister of Health, Ms. Peggy Vidot, together with the Principal Secretary and Public Health Commissioner. Seychelles, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Niger, Nigeria, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe are among the countries represented at this meeting. The Health Minister requested that attendees utilize this conference to develop specific plans for bolstering public health EOCs, many of which were set up to assist in coordinating the COVID-19 response and subsequent health emergencies.
A disproportionately high risk of public health emergencies due to disease outbreaks, natural catastrophes, and man-made tragedies continues to exist in nations in the African Region. The Region has recently seen COVID-19, epidemics of Ebola, cholera, Maburg, and monkeypox, natural disasters like flooding and cyclones, and manufactured catastrophes like armed conflicts, among other things.
All of these emphasize the necessity of maintaining public health emergency operations centres (PHEOCs), which act as hubs for organizing responses to public health emergencies. PHEOCs assemble professionals from many fields and disciplines to structurally coordinate emergency management operations using the event management system (IMS). Increasing teamwork, communication, and the accessibility of timely, accurate information for making decisions based on the best available evidence.
To carry out this Training of Trainers workshop, the Seychelles Ministry of Health collaborates with the national, regional, and head offices of the World Health Organization and other essential partners.
