The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) has officially launched a documentary on Improving Disease Monitoring Capacities and Early Warning Systems in West Africa. The documentary was a summary of the project, “Supporting and Strengthening Sub-Regional Post-Ebola Medical Surveillance and Socio-Economic recovery Initiatives in West Africa”, executed by the Institute in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Japan.
A former Director of NMIMR, Prof. Kwadwo Koram who welcomed all to the brief ceremony, expressed appreciation to those who attended the launch for responding to the invitation.
Prof. Kwadwo Koram delivering his address
Delivering a brief synopsis of the project, Prof. Koram stated that the UNDP Regional Office in Dakar in 2016, approached the Institute with the task of developing a programme for district personnel in Ebola affected countries especially, to support surveillance and recovery initiatives in those counties. He further explained that the Institute in collaboration with the UNDP and with funding from the Government of Japan, instituted the project; “Supporting and Strengthening Sub-Regional Post-Ebola Medical Surveillance and Socio-Economic recovery Initiatives in West Africa”.
In giving an overview of the project, Prof. Koram mentioned that a total of thirty-six (36) participants were drawn from five (5) ECOWAS countries: Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ghana. He added that participants from each country were made up of Health Information Management Surveillance Officer, Disease Surveillance Officer, Health Promotion Officer, Port Health Officer, Veterinary Officer, Clinician and Community Health Officer with observers from Embassy of Japan, Sierra Leone High Commission, Ghana Health Service, UNDP, Japan International Cooperation Agency, International Organization for Migration, Centre for Disease Control, Veterinary Service Department, World Health Organization and Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
He indicated that the four-day international training workshop which took place from October 3-6, 2017, sought to strengthen the participants’ capacities to monitor diseases, especially at border district. Topics covered included Diseases of Public Health in Humans and Animals, Disease Surveillance, Risk Communication and Application of Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS) with facilitators from NMIMR, Ghana Health Service, Centre for Geospatial Intelligence Services, Institute of Local Governance Studies and Helmholtz Centre for infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany.
Prof. Koram called on the Institute to strategically position itself to execute similar projects in the future if called upon. He congratulated the Institute for a good work done and encouraged them to do more.
A cross-section of the audience
