Accra, 25 August, 2015 - The World Health Organization (WHO) has signed an Agreement with the School of Public Health, University of Ghana,  for the release of US $ 792,000.00 meant for the   training of  about 200 district and sub-district health and other staff from seven regions to strengthen disease control and surveillance systems in the country.   The need for this training is highlighted against the background of the recent Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa in which inadequate capacity of health staff contributed to the high morbidity and mortality. The first phase of this collaboration took place earlier this year, with the training of 33 district health personnel from the Greater Accra Region.

The Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (GFELTP) is a competency-based training program of short courses for field epidemiologists with the core objectives of:

• Strengthening  public health by developing a cadre of health professionals with advanced skills in applied epidemiology, surveillance and laboratory management;
• Strengthening national surveillance systems and improving national capacity to manage health emergencies such as outbreaks, natural disasters and other unusual public health events.

Speaking at the function, the Deputy Minister for Health Dr Asare-Bampoe in his statement said the GELTP is timely and was happy that this training would go a long way to improve health security in Ghana.

The Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Mr Kaoru Yoshimura,   indicated that the Government of Japan’s contribution to the GFELTP forms part of an on-going package of support to strengthen preparedness and ensure Ghana is able to prevent and respond to a possible Ebola outbreak. His Excellency Mr Kaoru Yoshimura, Ambassador of Japan remarked at the ceremony “It is my fervent hope that this training program will help strengthen national public health and surveillance systems, and Ghana’s capacity to manage public health emergencies in the future.” He also noted that the Government of Japan is supporting a new project for surveillance and laboratory services for emerging pathogens of public health importance at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.

The Dean of the School of Public Health, Prof Richard Adanu, said that the Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (GFELTP) is in a strategic position in the public health system in the country to train more personnel through the 3- Month Basic  Course, 9-Month Intermediate Course and the 2-year Program to create the critical mass of  health personnel with the competences to improve the response to existing public health threats and the emerging zoonotic ones such as the Ebola Virus Disease which has caused epidemics in West Africa and a scare in Ghana.

“In December 2014, the University of Ghana School of Public Health sought financial support from WHO to organize a 3 month GFELTP Basic Course to train 33 health personnel in the Greater Accra Region at the request of the Regional Health Directorate to strengthen health worker competences to deal with the frequently occurring outbreaks including cholera outbreaks in the Region.  The course was made up of a two week classroom work using problem solving approach, followed by a three-month field work, preparation of reports and sharing of outputs at a dissemination workshop of stakeholders” he said.

He also emphasized that this time, 30 to 35 frontline health workers from the selected Regions will go through three week classroom work in the selected regions to be followed by three month field work in analysis of routine surveillance data, surveillance system evaluation and outbreak investigation and response, and mapping out epidemic prone diseases by place and time in their respective catchment areas. They will prepare reports of their outputs and come back to share their outputs and experiences with stakeholders and colleague health workers.

“We are grateful to the Government of Japan, WHO and other partners who have made funds available to support this noble venture. The University of Ghana School of Public Health would like to appeal to other partners to continue to support competence building for surveillance, outbreak investigation and response as a contribution to strengthen the health system to deal with public health emergencies in the country” he added.

In her brief remarks, the WHO Country Representative to Ghana, Dr Magda Robalo indicated that this flagship public health surveillance and disease outbreak and response training will contribute to strengthen Ghana’s capacity to prevent, detect early and respond timely and adequately to threats posed by epidemic prone diseases and hazards that have the potential of compromising the health of Ghanaians. The trainees will be capacitated to apply surveillance methods to detect unusual events, investigate and respond to outbreaks of infectious diseases in human and animal populations.

Prof Yao Tetteh who was the chairman for the occasion also expressed gratitude to the Government of Japan for the support.

In congratulating this initiative by the Ministry of Health, the School of Public Health, WHO and development partners, the UN Resident Coordinator said that “The Ebola outbreak in some West African countries last year showed the world the heroism of the front line health care providers and provided a stark reminder of the importance of effective health surveillance systems and well-trained health professionals in preventing disease outbreaks and responding to public health emergencies.”

The implementation of the program is expected to commence in August 2015 and would last for a period of 9 months, ending in April 2016.

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For further information please contact:

Dr Magda Robalo, WHO Representative, Ghana email: robalom [at] who.int

Dr Sally-Ann Ohene, Disease Prevention and Control Officer, WHO Ghana, email: ohenes [at] who.int

Ms Joana Ansong, Health Promotion Officer, WHO Ghana, email: ansongj [at] who.int