Health Systems Archives - AFHEG Foundation

13/01/202313/01/2023

Uganda’s Ebola-free: A Triumph of Preparedness and Early Response

Uganda has been declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) after the latest outbreak of the virus claimed almost 60 lives in about five months. The outbreak of the deadly virus was declared over after 42 days without a new case being reported, which is double the incubation period for the virus according to WHO protocols. The highly contagious disease spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids, and causes fatigue, fever and bleeding from the eyes and nose. It kills almost half of those who become infected.

This outbreak, which involved the Ebola Sudan strain of the virus, began in September and killed 56 people, including seven healthcare workers, and caused 142 confirmed infections. The virus spread through parts of the country, with officials hesitant to impose another ban on movement within the country in the wake of recent coronavirus lockdowns. Only in December were a curfew and restrictions on movement introduced in the affected districts. By then, the United States and other countries had issued orders to screen all travelers from Uganda arriving at their airports.

The acting director of Africa’s Centers for Disease Control, Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, has praised the Ugandan government for its “excellent” coordination of Ebola containment measures, saying it had taken approximately 70 days to bring the outbreak under control. African health authorities had prioritized preparedness for the deadly virus after devastating outbreaks of the Ebola Zaire strain in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone between 2013 and 2016 killed more than 11,300 people. Those outbreaks inspired global fear that air travel could allow the virus to spread across the world in a matter of hours. That fear helped galvanize research and funding for vaccines to protect against the Zaire strain of the virus.

Three candidate vaccines in development for the Ebola Zaire strain were sent to Uganda, with the first arriving on December 8, to be evaluated in a clinical trial being run by the Makerere University Lung Institute, as there is currently no vaccine proven to be effective against the Sudan strain of the virus. Critics have said an opportunity was missed as the candidate vaccines only arrived as the virus was waning. The delays meant a chance to trial the drugs amid an evolving outbreak was missed. However, the limited trial did prove the vaccines safe to use on humans. In December, doctors discharged the last known Ebola patient in Uganda from hospital, allowing President Yoweri Museveni to lift all Ebola-related restrictions and curfews for the holiday season.

“Today we join the Government of Uganda to declare the end of the Sudan Ebola Virus Outbreak in the Country,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Regional Director for Africa. The WHO’s Moeti further added, “With no vaccines and therapeutics, this was one of the most challenging Ebola outbreaks in the past five years, but Uganda stayed the course and continuously fine-tuned its response. Two months ago, it looked as if Ebola would cast a dark shadow over the country well into 2023, as the outbreak reached major cities such as Kampala and Jinja, but this win starts off the year on a note of great hope for Africa.”

The end of the Ebola outbreak in Uganda is certainly a cause for celebration and relief, but it also serves as a reminder of the importance of preparedness and early response in the face of deadly epidemics. The Ebola virus is a highly contagious and deadly disease, and it is essential that countries and international organizations take the necessary steps to prevent and contain outbreaks as quickly as possible. The WHO’s announcement of Uganda being Ebola-free is an encouraging sign for the continent of Africa and the rest of the world, showing that with proper coordination and response, it is possible to overcome even the most challenging of outbreaks.

12/01/202306/07/2023

Morocco Boosts Healthcare Access for All with 32 Million Enrolled in Insurance

The Kingdom of Morocco has announced that it has enrolled 32 million beneficiaries in health insurance as part of an integrated and inclusive social protection program in the country. In November 2021, the Moroccan government pledged to introduce medical coverage to three million people as part of the country’s new regulations on pensions and the Compulsory Health Insurance scheme.

The social protection program seeks to attract new investments in health infrastructure, improve the business climate, and accelerate economic recovery by restructuring the supply of health care and providing training to human capital. Moroccan Head of Government H.E. Mr. Aziz Akhannouch said, “The number of Moroccans working in the unregulated economy and free trades, who have access to social benefits including health coverage went from 7.8 million to 23.2 million in 2022.”

He commented on the increase in the number of individuals working in the unregulated economy who are registered under the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) during a monthly session at the House of Councillors, the upper house of the Parliament of Morocco. Mr. Akhannouch observed that the number of citizens who gained access to health coverage (AMO) stood at 9.4 million in the past year, stating that the government has implemented patient-centered care access to care aimed at reducing health inequities.

“The increase in the number of citizens with access to healthcare echoes the rise in the number of filings the CNSS received for healthcare-related reimbursements,” the Head of Government highlighted. He explained that the number of filings from individuals in the unregulated economy sector exceeded 640,000 in 2022 while noting that 53,400 of the total filings were issued last December.

“In 2022, the National Social Security Fund opened 47 additional local agencies, launched 45 mobile agencies, and created 8,000 communication centers to register new workers,” he said. Billionaire Akhannouch pointed out that CNSS has opened new agencies to facilitate access to its services as well as to boost access to healthcare coverage, adding that the Fund built a network of 2,000 points for workers to file for healthcare-related reimbursement files.

Meanwhile, the Moroccan government has plans underway to increase the number of health professionals to more than 90,000 by 2025 from the current 68,000. The country aims to the quota of 24 health professionals for every 10,000 inhabitants by the same deadline of 2025, and 45 health professionals for every 10,000 inhabitants by 2030.

In July 2022, Head of Government of the Kingdom of Morocco signed a framework agreement on the implementation of a program aimed at boosting the number of health professionals by 2030. “Reaching this goal requires doubling the number of medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry graduates, as well as tripling the number of nursing and health technology graduates by 2025,” Akhannouch added. He confirmed that under the framework agreement, the government will open three faculties of medicine and pharmacy as well as three university hospitals in Errachidia, Beni Mellal, and Guelmim.

20/11/202207/02/2023

Strengthening Uganda’s Health Promotion: The Road Ahead

Similar to the anthrax outbreaks, the coronavirus pandemic, and most recently, the Ebola epidemic in Uganda, partnerships have been essential in preventing these circumstances from adversely influencing the health of other Ugandans through health promotion.

30/10/202231/10/2022

Exchange of vital health data across platforms and regions to manage the worldwide spread of infectious illnesses

According to an exclusive analysis from the BroadReach Group, the benefit of exchanging crucial health data across platforms and geographies to manage the worldwide spread of infectious illnesses as travel grows following the COVID-19 pandemic is emphasized.

The Broadband Group identifies three essential international standards that establish worldwide best practices for the protection of general personal information and personal health information.

“The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the USA and the private sector-led HITRUST Alliance,” revealed the advisory firm.

The BroadReach Group hosted a webinar to address competing goals in light of October’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month, focusing on how smart policies, considerate frameworks, and underpinning technology may support both data privacy and data sharing.

“The webinar covered the importance of health data ownership, data protection vs data sharing, and data residency, including personal ownership of health data, and public and private organizations’ challenges and responsibilities in keeping it safe and secure,” the Group announced in a release.

Dr. Farley R. Cleghorn, global head of health practice at Palladium Group, and Dr. Justin Maeda, principal regional collaborating centers (RCC) coordinator at the Africa Center for Disease Control (CDC), participated in the discussion as Ruan Viljoen, chief technology officer at BroadReach Group, served as its moderator.

“Health data is the most sensitive personal data we can store and warrants an even stricter duty of care. We should not put individuals in a position where they should have to trade their privacy in order to receive good healthcare,” said Viljoen.

The leaders also acknowledged that governments are the guardians of their citizens’ human rights and as a result, have the primary duty for protecting their citizens’ data, even if they recognized that the problem is complicated and that a multi-sectoral solution is required.

“Individuals need to take control of their health data. You should assume you have a right to that information, that you can control your information, and that you can use it for your own benefit,” highlighted Dr. Cleghorn.

They stressed that, at a time when cyber-security has grown increasingly crucial in healthcare as assaults escalate, governments might safeguard their citizens by disaggregating patients’ health data to make it impersonal and unrecognizable to third parties.

“Attackers are quite patient and look around – recent studies show that it takes organisations an average of 271 days before they detect that they have been breached, and another 70-odd days to rectify the situation,” highlighted the Chief Technology Officer.

He outlined how cyberattacks impair service delivery, which is harmful in the healthcare industry, and cause reputational and financial damage. He also said that it can take some time for a business to go back to normal.

29/10/202231/10/2022

1400 healthcare workers to get Ebola preparation and response training from WHO and Kenya

The World Health Organization (WHO) and Kenya’s Ministry of Health will train roughly 1,400 healthcare professionals on how to be ready for an Ebola epidemic.

In a news statement, the ministry stated that as Uganda works to control the present epidemic, the Ebola response actions are a part of continuous efforts to protect against a potential importation of the deadly Ebola virus illness into the nation.

“The training, that kicked off this week, has seen 75 health workers drawn from the national level and Nairobi County receive essential information and techniques required to deal with the disease,” said the Ministry of Health.

The agency said that the training was connected in series to the county and sub-county levels in the 20 counties most vulnerable to the importation of EVD and that the health professionals had received training on readiness and reaction.

The training session comes in response to a notice issued by the Kenyan ministry to all counties nationwide and worries expressed by Ugandan health officials over an increase in confirmed Ebola cases to 109 with 30 fatalities.

“Ebola virus disease is a severe and often fatal illness in humans caused by the Ebola virus. The virus is normally found in animals but spread from animals to human beings and occurs when there is interaction between the infected animals and healthy humans,” the statement said.

Furthermore, a recent notice sent by the Ugandan government to Kenya is in accordance with East African Community Health standards on an epidemic of the illness discovered in Ngabano hamlet of Madudu Sub County in Central Uganda.

The Ministry of Health further warned that human-to-human transmission of Ebola happens through direct or indirect contact with bodily fluids including as blood, sweat, urine, sperm, vaginal secretions, diarrhea, and vomitus from an infected individual.

As a result, the Kenyan government has advised all county governments to be watchful and increase monitoring, particularly around borders.

“Screen at risk populations including travellers, truck drivers, bush meat handlers and healthcare workers as well as sensitize the community to identify suspected cases,” the ministry urged county administrations.

Additionally, county governments have been advised to mobilize fast-reaction teams to assist with case identification and prompt reporting.

They were also asked to engage key stakeholders to start preventative, readiness, and response efforts, as well as to educate healthcare personnel on infection, prevention and control measures, case management, and sample management.

28/10/202231/10/2022

Six months COVID-19 control transition plan launched by ACT-Accelerator

The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator has initiated a six-month initiative focused on vaccinating high-risk groups, providing new treatment options, enhancing testing, and assuring long-term access to COVID-19 tools.

The strategy was created in response to the fact that numerous conversations are presently taking place concerning modifications that need to be done to strengthen the global health architecture for pandemic preparation and response (PPR) based on the world’s experience with COVID-19.

More than 1.6 billion vaccinations have now been given to Advance Market Commitment nations via the ACT-Accelerator, with 75% of the COVAX vaccines going to low-income nations.

Additionally, a media release states that low and middle-income countries (LMICs) have received more than 145 million tests, 40 million treatment courses, and personal protective equipment totaling US$2 billion.

Another notable accomplishment of the effort is the agreement on voluntary licensing for oral antivirals and the halving of the cost of quick diagnostics.

The modifications to the ACT- Accelerator’s organizational structure and operational procedures, which take into account the COVID-19 virus and pandemic’s dynamic nature, will guarantee that nations continue to have access to COVID-19 tools over the long term and in the case of disease outbreaks.

The strategy specifies how international health organizations, the government, civic society, and other partners will work together to support nations with long-term COVID-19 control through the ACT-Accelerator.

A list of tasks that will be maintained, changed, retired, or kept on standby is also included in the plan. The transition plan supports ACT-A organizations as they advance their COVID-19 finance, implementation, and mainstreaming initiatives.

The activity of the ACT-A partners will concentrate on three main topics in the coming phase: Activities in R&D and market-shaping to guarantee a pipeline of new and enhanced goods Tools for COVID-19 and institutional arrangements for ongoing COVID access 19 immunizations, examinations, and treatments for all nations, including efforts on introducing new products in-country using oxygen (e.g., new oral antivirals).

In support of national and international goals, the strategy will also assure the protection of sensitive populations.

The proposal also calls for the creation of a new ACT-A Tracking and Monitoring Taskforce that will be co-chaired by senior government representatives from India and the United States and the reactivation of the Facilitation Council at the political level in the event of a serious disease outbreak.

Furthermore, the World Health Organization expressed alarm that the coronavirus is “running freely” and cautioned that the epidemic is “nowhere near ended,” noting fresh waves throughout the globe.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern that the number of cases was increasing and “adding to the strain on already overburdened health systems and health professionals.”

Tedros advised governments to use tried-and-true strategies like masking, better ventilation, and test-and-treat protocols in the face of escalating COVID transmission and hospitalization rates.

Positively, the recently introduced bivalent booster vaccines, which are effective against both the primary coronavirus strain and the currently circulating omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, may offer improved protection against infection and transmission as well as more durable protection against serious illness.

05/10/202207/10/2022

Uganda receives US$1.5 million from Japan, UNICEF to improve its health information systems

Uganda receives US$1.5 million (approximately UGX5,710,860,000) in financing from the Japanese government, which will be distributed via the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF) to help upgrade its national health information system with the use of cutting-edge digital health technology.

The funds will be used by the Ugandan Ministry of Health to establish a digitized health information microplanning system to solve issues in the delivery of vaccination services and to attain Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

A portion of the funds provided by UNICEF will also be utilized to implement a new health information system, which will assist in providing necessary vaccinations to children who are vaccinated insufficiently or not at all, as well as those who are targeted for COVID-19 vaccination.

1.3 million under-5 children in the trial districts of Kamuli, Kampala, Kamwenge, Lamwo, Mukono, Ntungamo, and Wakiso will benefit immensely from this innovation, as will 350 health care professionals and 60 Ministry of Health and Regional Referral Hospital officials.

UNICEF reports that a recent “zero-dose” assessment carried out in four metropolitan areas indicated that there is still a sizable percentage of children in Uganda that are either not vaccinated at all or are just partially immunized.

The funding will be applied to take advantage of cutting-edge digital technologies to enhance the provision of healthcare in the nation, including helping medical professionals organize their COVID-19 vaccine inventory and prepare for vaccination supply.

The initiative will be carried out in collaboration between UNICEF, the Ugandan Ministry of Health, the Uganda National Expanded Programme on Immunization, the Health Information Management Division, and the Community Health Department.

“Once the digital monitoring system is implemented, the Ministry of Health and partners will be able to increase the quality of services and coverage to reach the unimmunized and under-immunized wherever they are,” the United Nations agency stated.

Dr. Munir Safieldin, the UNICEF representative in Uganda, underlined the need for timely data collection to increase vaccination coverage, particularly through more precise estimations of the number and location of the target group at the grassroots level.

By the end of 2024, the project’s objectives must be accomplished. On a national basis, the effort will also help 10 million children under the age of five and 21 million vaccinated children between the ages of 12 and 18 who will get the COVID-19 vaccine.

02/09/2022

Ethiopian National Influenza Laboratory has joined the World Health Organization’s worldwide influenza surveillance network.

The Ethiopian Public Health Institute’s (EPHI) National Influenza Laboratory has been designated as a World Health Organization (WHO) National Influenza Centre (NIC), and the Ethiopian laboratory has joined the WHO global influenza monitoring network, according to the WHO website.

The WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) now recognizes the Ethiopian Public Health Institute’s National Influenza Laboratory as a full member following an on-site examination by a team of WHO specialists.

According to WHO, the panel suggested that Ethiopia continue to participate to regional and global influenza monitoring, namely by increasing shipment of influenza-positive specimens to a WHO cooperating Centre for candidate influenza vaccine selection four times per year.

The evaluation team also advised Ethiopia to continue providing frequent influenza surveillance data to WHO and to continue participating in the yearly WHO GISRS external quality assurance program.

WHO emphasizes that the on-site evaluation was carried out by a WHO team comprised of the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System Lead, a technical specialist from the WHO Regional Office for Africa, and a laboratory coordinator from the WHO Ethiopia Country Office.

Using a standardized assessment instrument, the assessment mission assessed the condition of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute’s National Influenza Laboratory against the WHO NIC Terms of Reference.

By identifying, prioritizing, and carrying out capacity development initiatives including training, the assessment’s recommendations will assist Ethiopia in further strengthening the recently established National Influenza Centre.

The 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR) and the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework are two more initiatives that the Ethiopian National Influenza Laboratory is projected to support.

WHO and the WHO Collaborating Centres for Influenza will continue to provide the National Influenza Center with technical advice, assistance, influenza reagents, and training.

The Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, established in 1952, is a global network designed to defend people from the threat of influenza by efficient collaboration and sharing of viruses, data, and advantages based on Member States’ dedication to a global public health paradigm.

The World Health Organization has recognized the National Influenza Center of Ethiopia as a member of the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, which includes 155 institutions in 125 nations.

08/08/202208/08/2022

Africans’ average lifespan has increased by 10 years

CONGO BRAZZAVILLE – According to the World Health Organization (WHO) evaluation reports, advances in the delivery of essential health services between 2000 and 2019 led to an average rise of 10 years in healthy life expectancy per person in the African region.

05/08/202205/08/2022

UNAIDS, UNICEF, and WHO launch a global alliance to end AIDS in children by 2030

MONTREAL, CANADA – The 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal, Canada, saw the launch of a new Global Alliance for Ending AIDS in Children by 2030, which was declared by key figures.