Posted in Pandemic Preparedness Articles
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 22nd October, 2021: The 9th Regional Steering Committee Meeting of the EAC Regional Network of Public Health Reference Laboratories for Communicable Diseases (EAC – RNPHRL) concluded on Friday, with delegates commending the contribution of the EAC Mobile Laboratories towards regional efforts to mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic.
In his remarks, Dr. John Ndemi Kiiru, Head, Department of Laboratory Services, Ministry of Health, Republic of Kenya observed that the Mobile Laboratories project was a noble initiative that will have a great impact on the lives of the people of East Africa not only in the short term but in the long terms as well. “The Labs have facilitated the Partner States to undertake various initiatives that would have otherwise been impossible to undertake,” he added.
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Posted in Pandemic Preparedness Articles
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 4th October 2021: East African Community officials led by the Deputy Secretary General Productive and Social Sectors, Hon. Christophe Bazivamo, have started an inspection tour of sites where the EAC in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is implementing a project on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
The project that aims at strengthening the capacity of Partner States to prevent and address infectious diseases in the region is expected to reach more than 1 million people with health and hygiene promotion initiatives. Around 19 handwashing facilities will be installed at selected sites by the time the project is completed in January 2022.
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Posted in Pandemic Preparedness Articles
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 26th August 2021: Extensive land borders, along with previous disease outbreaks, make the six-member East African Community (EAC) susceptible to communicable infections, including cholera, measles, rift valley fever, yellow fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever and e.coli infections.
However, thanks to a financial contribution of EUR 1.5 million from the German government, over one million people will be reached with health and hygiene promotion initiatives, in addition to 19 hand-washing facilities due to be installed in hot spot areas.
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Posted in Pandemic Preparedness Articles
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 15 December 2020: Outbreaks of infectious diseases are not only a health concern but affect many sectors. In the case of the current COVID-19 pandemic education, tourism and trade were among those that were hardest hit. The EAC Secretariat addresses this issue by applying the One Health approach in disease management. The approach involves all areas of society that would be affected by a disease outbreak, can contribute to preventing and combating it and to mitigating its impact. “In an effort to establish and train an urgently needed, strong One Health workforce, the EAC Secretariat with support from universities in all EAC Partner States and from the German Government developed a regional, generic, interdisciplinary postgraduate course on “Pandemic Preparedness with a One Health Approach (PPOH)”, explains the Hon. Christophe Bazivamo, Deputy Secretary General Productive and Social Sectors. “The curriculum will enable these experts to consider the needs of various stakeholders stronger, when mitigating the impact of disease outbreaks like COVID-19”.
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