Uganda is hosting a five-day Outbreak Response Simulation Exercise Management Training with support from the World Health Organization (WHO). The course, designed for staff of the Ministries of Health and WHO country offices is aimed at building their capacity to prepare for and effectively respond to public health emergencies. 

Participants from Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, The Gambia and Uganda are attending the training using the recently published The WHO Exercise Manual (2017). This practical manual includes simulation exercises guidance and tools on the design and implementation of different types of simulation exercises. 

To support the roll-out of the manual, this training programme aims at creating a pool of exercises, developers and facilitators. The first module of the training programme on tabletop exercises was tested in October 2016.  As part of the “learning by doing” approach of the training, participants conceptualized, developed and delivered an actual day long functional exercise for the Ugandan Public Health Emergency Operations Centre on the fourth day of the training at the Ministry of Health Emergency Operation Center in Kampala. 

Uganda was chosen as the host because of the availability of a fully operational and state- of-the-art Public Health Emergency Operating Center (PHEOC), an operational public health emergency response plan and has already undergone trainings on outbreak response management.

The Acting WHO Representative in Uganda Dr. Jack Abdoulie commended the WHO Country Health Emergency Preparedness and International Health Regulations (CPI) Department for designing the Simulation Exercise Manual as well as the practical training, saying, “This will be very instrumental in enabling countries to prepare for public health emergency outbreaks.” 

Simulation exercises play a key role in identifying the strengths and gaps in the development and implementation of preparedness and response measures. WHO emphasizes the use of exercises to ensure that public health emergency response systems are in place to manage health emergencies. Simulation exercises have been recognized, as key pillars under the International Health Regulations (IHR) Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 2016.

Below:

01 - Members of the emergency outbreak response team study the real time situation report