Strengthening and utilizing response groups for emergencies flagship: a narrative review of the roll out process and lessons from the first year of implementation.

The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO/AFRO) faces members who encounter annual disease epidemics and natural disasters that necessitate immediate deployment and a trained health workforce to respond. The gaps in this regard, further exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, led to conceptualizing the Strengthening and Utilizing Response Group for Emergencies (SURGE) flagship in 2021. This study aimed to present the experience of the WHO/AFRO in the stepwise roll-out process and the outcome, as well as to elucidate the lessons learned across the pilot countries throughout the first year of implementation.

COVID-19 as an Accelerator of the Implementation of Emergency Medical Teams Initiative in the AFRO Region.

Objective: This study describes the progress that the World Health Organization (WHO) African (AFRO) region has made in establishing National Emergency Medical Teams (N-EMTs), the coordination mechanisms of the EMTs, and the regional training centers.

Methods: It used a retrospective descriptive analysis of the formulation and implementation of the EMTs Initiative from an insider perspective. The analysis is based on the review of available documents such as EMTs mission reports, assessments, surveys, EMT monthly bulletins, and meeting minutes in addition to key informant interviews ( = 5) with the EMT teams' members to validate the findings and share field experiences.

Coordination and Management of COVID-19 in Africa through Health Operations and Technical Expertise Pillar: A Case Study from WHO AFRO One Year into Response.

following the importation of the first Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case into Africa on 14 February 2020 in Egypt, the World Health Organisation (WHO) regional office for Africa (AFRO) activated a three-level incident management support team (IMST), with technical pillars, to coordinate planning, implementing, supervision, and monitoring of the situation and progress of implementation as well as response to the pandemic in the region. At WHO AFRO, one of the pillars was the health operations and technical expertise (HOTE) pillar with five sub-pillars: case management, infection prevention and control, risk communication and community engagement, laboratory, and emergency medical team (EMT). This paper documents the learnings (both positive and negative for consideration of change) from the activities of the HOTE pillar and recommends future actions for improving its coordination for future emergencies, especially for multi-country outbreaks or pandemic emergency responses.

Identifying and quantifying the factors associated with cholera-related death during the 2018 outbreak in Nigeria.

Introduction: cholera outbreaks in Nigeria are often associated with high case fatality rates; however, there is a dearth of evidence on context-specific factors associated with the trend. This study therefore aimed to identify and quantify the factors associated with cholera-related deaths in Nigeria.

Methods: using a cross-sectional design, we analysed surveillance data from all the States that reported cholera cases during the 2018 outbreak, and defined cholera-related death as death of an individual classified as having cholera according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control case definition.

What are the drivers of recurrent cholera transmission in Nigeria? Evidence from a scoping review.

Background: The 2018 cholera outbreak in Nigeria affected over half of the states in the country, and was characterised by high attack and case fatality rates. The country continues to record cholera cases and related deaths to date. However, there is a dearth of evidence on context-specific drivers and their operational mechanisms in mediating recurrent cholera transmission in Nigeria.

Descriptive epidemiology of cholera outbreak in Nigeria, January-November, 2018: implications for the global roadmap strategy.

Background: The cholera outbreak in 2018 in Nigeria reaffirms its public health threat to the country. Evidence on the current epidemiology of cholera required for the design and implementation of appropriate interventions towards attaining the global roadmap strategic goals for cholera elimination however seems lacking. Thus, this study aimed at addressing this gap by describing the epidemiology of the 2018 cholera outbreak in Nigeria.

The impact of on IPC compliance during the Ebola virus outbreak in Mbandaka/Democratic Republic of the Congo: a before and after design.

Objectives: To assess the impact of refresher training of healthcare workers (HCWs) in infection prevention and control (IPC), ensuring consistent adequate supplies and availability of IPC kits and carrying out weekly monitoring of IPC performance in healthcare facilities (HCFs) DESIGN: This was a before and after comparison study SETTINGS: This study was conducted from June to July 2018 during an Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in Equateur Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Participants: 48 HCFs INTERVENTIONS: HCWs capacity building in basic IPC, IPC kit donation and IPC mentoring.

Primary Outcome Measures: IPC score RESULTS: 48 HCFs were evaluated and 878 HCWs were trained, of whom 437 were women and 441 were men.