An AFROHUN (Africa One Health University Network) Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) curriculum development workshop is currently ongoing in Douala, Cameroon at Krystal Palace Hotel. The workshop opened on July 17th, 2023.
The curriculum being developed focuses on RCCE competency building for in-service professionals with duties related to RCCE for Rabies and COVID-19. The curriculum developed on Competency-based Education principles is developed with the support of USAID under the AFROHUN Transition Award.
Participants in the workshop include faculty (from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, Cameroon, Senegal), consultants that conducted the RCCE CBE situation analysis, a representative from the Cameroon One Health Platform Madam Elisabeth Dibongue, AFROHUN Board Chair, Prof. Philemon Wambura, AFROHUN CEO Prof. William Bazeyo, Deans from DRC and Cameroon, and AFROHUN Secretariat staff.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Professor Bazeyo noted that risk communication and community engagement are not new concepts, but what AFROHUN brings to the table is what changes the outlook. He further noted that while the world has been doing risk communication and community engagement, doing it in such a way that it is embedded in daily life, has been missing.
He noted that while many disregard COVID-19, saying that it is no longer a priority, it is a wise move for AFROHUN to plan for it and any other similar diseases. “AFROHUN is here to develop curriculum that will address the needs of the people in Africa. Risk communication is very important, many people do not know when and how to detect a risk”, he said. Being in Cameroon, he noted that Cameroon has lessons to offer in building and sustaining and strong One Health Platform “Cameroon has one of the strongest One Health Platforms in Africa. How can we tap into what they know and learn and strengthen our own systems? What can we pick from here and input in our curriculum so that this knowledge can benefit the entire continent?”, he mused.
Professor Philemon Wambura, the AFROHUN Board Chair was happy to note that while Cameroon was seen as a risk at the time Universite De Montagne joined the network, the risk has paid off, with Cameroon being among the top performers in the network. He shared that a decision was made that Board members should participate in network activities whenever opportunities arise.
Dean Jean Pierre Mvondo of the University of Buea noted that it is gratifying to see that the work that led to the development of the curriculum was conducted by African experts. “It shows the confidence that we are building in our own technical resources”> he noted that the meeting was important for immersive collaborative work that enables technical dialogue and development of solid products.
Madam Elisabeth Dibongue (seen here chairing on of the group discussions; right), the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the One Health Platform pointed out that the Platform has worked a lot with AFROHUN in executing capacity-building activities. The network has also provided a lot of opportunities to the platform to do its work and reach out to more stakeholders than would have been possible working singularly. She noted that Risk Communication and Community Engagement are important to the National One Health Platform and all actors in the One Health arena.
The five-day workshop will be followed by a materials development workshop to complete the process of developing the curriculum. Once completed, the curriculum will be used to train in-service professionals at the national and sub-national level, in a synchronized manner that will see researchers and the trainees on the curriculum work together at field sites, to identify and address COVID-19 and rabies RCCE issues.
The long-term objective is to have the curriculum on the AFROHUN One Health Workforce.