The first nine months of Epidemic-Ready Primary Health Care

Health care workers attending an ERPHC continued medical education session in Uganda. Credit: Resolve to Save Lives

Primary health facilities in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Uganda saw impressive gains in their ability to prevent, detect, and respond to outbreaks while maintaining essential health services in the first nine months of our Epidemic-Ready Primary Health Care (ERPHC) initiative.

Kenya team tackles Rift Valley Fever outbreak with 7-1-7

Dr. Jedidah Kiprop and colleagues work to verify data a first step in confirming an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in Kenya

A Kenya team trained on 7-1-7 thanks to free online tools supplied by the 7-1-7 Alliance, winning wide recognition at the 2024 Global Health Security Conference for applying the 7-1-7 target to control a recent outbreak of Rift Valley Fever. The team was able to identify barriers to an effective response and quickly get resources to the affected region, where seasonal heavy rains can cause mosquito-borne outbreaks in livestock that spill over into humans.

7-1-7 helps Kenya quickly contain Rift Valley Fever outbreak

Dr. Jedidah Kiprop and colleagues work to verify data a first step in confirming an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in Kenya

Seasonal heavy rains can spark mosquito-borne infections in livestock and spill over into humans. By applying the 7-1-7 target during a recent outbreak of Rift Valley Fever, Kenya was able to identify barriers to an effective response and quickly get resources to the affected region.

Training health care workers to prevent epidemics—with their smartphones

Health care worker using smartphone

Resolve to Save Lives partnered with HealthLearn to develop free, mobile-optimized training courses that help frontline health care workers recognize, report and contain infectious disease outbreaks. Recently, one of these training modules was released as a standalone to support Nigeria through a cholera outbreak, allowing frontline workers to more effectively identify and report suspected cases […]

“Surveillance is a public health superpower”

Testing for Covid-19 in Nigeria © Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images

In an essay for the Financial Times, RTSL President and CEO, Dr. Tom Frieden explains how disease surveillance is a “public health superpower” allowing us to foretell health disasters and see trends in diseases and health programs to save lives. Dr. Frieden argues that while there have been some exciting technological advances in health surveillance, […]

How “event-based surveillance” is saving lives Sierra Leone

Participants at a training for traditional healers in Kenema, Sierra Leone, in April 2024.

Resolve to Save Lives partnered with the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and global partners to support event-based surveillance for the earliest signs of an outbreak. By focusing on advanced signals such as sudden growth in pharmacy sales or drops in school attendance, event-based surveillance will allow the Ministry to detect outbreaks more quickly, thereby […]

Nigeria passes first subnational health security bill

Participants in "Law & Health Security: Strengthening Nigeria's Legal Preparedness."

Resolve to Save Lives recently supported the passage of Nigeria’s first subnational health security bill in partnership with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the Government of Kano State. This new law brings Kano State into alignment with International Health Regulations (2005) and will allow the state to better protect its people—and […]

Ethiopia’s first national infection prevention and control budget

Graphic of Ethopian health care worker

Our team recently supported the passage of Ethiopia’s first national infection prevention and control budget in partnership with the nation’s Ministries of Health and Finance. This strategic investment by national decisionmakers will strengthen Ethiopia’s capacity to respond to future public health threats—and represents a milestone for global health security efforts. Read how the budget was […]

New African Women in Digital Health Mentorship Program

The new RTSL-supported African Women in Digital Health Mentorship Program is now accepting applications. Women are integral to achieving Africa’s inclusive growth and sustainable development agenda. This new program will help enhance the representation and leadership of African women in the digital health sector by bolstering their business acumen and leadership skills, supporting them to thrive […]

The latest “Epidemics That Didn’t Happen”

Our third and latest Epidemics That Didn’t Happen report showcases six new case studies from around the world in which responsive health systems that got the basics right stopped infectious disease outbreaks in their tracks. Launched at the 2024 Global Health Security Conference at an event attended by over 100 colleagues and peers, our latest […]

New report offers lessons on stopping disease outbreaks, amid global spread of H5N1

Resolve to Save Lives report shows how public health specialists around the world controlled bird flu and other outbreaks last year June 18, 2024 (New York, NY) – With the highly contagious H5N1 avian influenza (bird flu) spreading worldwide, Finland provides a lesson in how to bring an outbreak under control quickly. After a deadly outbreak […]

What the U.S. can learn from Finland’s H5N1 response

David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe/Getty Images/File

In an essay for CNN, RTSL President and CEO, Dr. Tom Frieden outlines important lessons from a recent outbreak of “bird flu” in Finland that was stopped in its tracks before it could affect a single human being. Dr. Frieden identifies longstanding trust between the farming community and the government, as well as swift action […]

Flexible funding for epidemic response is a game-changer

REUTERS/Baz Ratner

In her latest op-ed for Think Global Health, our Senior Vice President for Prevent Epidemics, Amanda McClelland, explains how early access to flexible funding at the first sign of an outbreak can save tens—or even hundreds of thousands of dollars—in addition to lives and livelihoods. Get the full story at Think Global Health.