Introduction
The Certificate for Pandemic Preparedness with a One Health approach is a short innovative, professional and interdisciplinary course for key personnel and future experts in pandemic preparedness and management. The importance of this course is underlined by past threats and lessons learnt, for example the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa 201 –2016, showing that a multisectoral response including resource mobilisation and coordination is significant for success.
The purpose of this course is therefore to provide critical knowledge and skills to potential diverse responders to infectious diseases whenever and wherever they occur in East Africa. The main focus of the course is pandemics and consists of:
1) Prevention and response,
2) Governance for prevention and response,
3) Sectors involved in prevention and response, and
4) Analysis of the factors influencing prevention and response.
The emphasis of this course is on the use of the One Health Approach utilising knowledge from all relevant and affected sectors and disciplines to outbreak/epidemic/pandemic preparedness and response. It is expected that the course will stimulate participants to broaden their knowledge and skills for effective response to disease outbreaks.
The Support to Pandemic Preparedness Project (Pan Prep) in the EAC Region is funded by the Federal Republic of Germany and implemented by Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in close collaboration with the EAC Secretariat and accessed through the AFRICA One Health University Network (AFROHUN) Academy (AOHA). The project will contribute to improvement of the health of the people in the East African region. GIZ has in the past engaged in capacity development programmes such as One Health and crisis communication. GIZ and other partners look forward to not just piloting and implementing this course but that the course may be accredited by universities in the region with a possibility of enhancing content to a post-graduate programme.
This 19-topic course is designed to equip participants with knowledge, attitudes and skills in outbreak/epidemic/pandemic preparedness and response and create a critical mass of professionals with ability to prepare and respond to disease outbreaks in the region using the One Health Approach. Though designed as a short 2-3 week certificate course, it may be progressed to a further certificate, diploma or degree course at middle level, or institutions of higher learning depending on the target group and needs of respective countries.
The short certificate course described rests on the philosophy that pandemic preparedness and response is a science that can be learned and personalised to serve the purpose of supporting communities.
Responses to pandemic threats are complex, dealing with unforeseen circumstances and requiring individuals to possess competencies such as planning, selecting appropriate modes of response, mobilising and utilising resources and engaging the affected communities in ways that are effective and achieve optimum results. This course is based on the understanding that responders and the affected communities are all capable of constructing knowledge to resolve threatening pandemic situations using a One Health approach.
Goal of the Course
The goal of this short course is to enhance the knowledge, attitudes and skills of learners in order to enable their effectiveness as responders to pandemics.
Course Objectives
This course seeks to lead to the learning of:
- The nature of outbreaks, epidemics, pandemics and strategies of response whenever they occur using a One Health approach in the region
- Preparedness for pandemics within the region
- Detection, case management, risk and crisis communication
- Mobilising partners, communities and resources required to investigate and control outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics.
Expected Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, the learners should be able to:
- Describe concepts in pandemics and One Health
- Justify the case for pandemic preparedness using a One Health approach in East Africa
- Design a model for pandemic preparedness for effective response in an East African situation.
- Discuss strategies for social and resource mobilisation to counter pandemics in East Africa.