Region: Africa

Rapid scale-up of COVID-19 training for frontline health workers in 11 African countries

Rapid scale-up of COVID-19 training for frontline health workers in 11 African countries

Effective outbreak response requires sustained investments in health systems—going beyond training to include adequate equipment, space and staffing levels. For Human Resources for Health, our colleagues at ICAP at Columbia University analyzed a COVID-19 response training program for healthcare workers in 11 African countries in mid-2020. While confidence in managing COVID-19 increased, barriers like limited […]

Psychosocial determinants of adherence to public health and social measures (PHSMs) in 18 African Union Member States during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic: results of a cross-sectional survey

Psychosocial determinants of adherence to public health and social measures (PHSMs) in 18 African Union Member States during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic: results of a cross-sectional survey

Trust in authorities, a sense of control over one’s environment and behavior, and access to resources influenced adherence to public health and social measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Writing in BMJ Open, experts at Resolve to Save Lives analyzed psychosocial and sociodemographic factors influencing COVID-19 public health and social measure (PHSM) adherence through a cross-sectional […]

7-1-7 target in Lancet Global Health

Resolve to Save Lives' 7-1-7 Approach

RTSL’s Prevent Epidemics Team publishes evidence from early pilots on the 7-1-7 target for early detection of and response to disease threats.

The 7-1-7 Alliance is a new country-led, global partnership to improve health security

Dr. Issa Makumbi, Director of Uganda’s Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, will serve as inaugural Chair of the Technical Steering Group for The 7-1-7 Alliance: a country-led partnership for technical assistance, financial support and a growing, global community of practice to help all countries achieve the 7-1-7 target for outbreak detection and control.

RTSL Welcomes New Board Members

RTSL welcomes Precious Matsoso to our U.S. Board of Directors, and Dr. Iruka Okeke to our Board of Directors for RTSL Nigeria.

Sharing lessons from dedicated preparedness teams

The Prevent Epidemics team held the first-ever gathering of its dedicated preparedness teams, also known as acceleration teams, in Nairobi, Kenya. Teams from DRC, Ethiopia, Liberia and Uganda gathered with RTSL staff from the global and Nigeria offices to share their successes and challenges in making epidemic preparedness a priority in their countries.

Webinar: How the 7-1-7 Approach Improves Epidemic Preparedness and Response

Featuring presentations from Dr. Issa Makumbi of Uganda’s National Public Health Institute and Dr. Ambrose Talisuna of the World Health Organization, our latest webinar gave attendees insight into 7-1-7’s utility as a performance improvement tool in Uganda and the vision of the WHO Regional Office for Africa for leveraging the metric. The event featured opening […]

Nigeria’s joint external evaluation and national action plan for health security

Nigeria's joint external evaluation and national action plan for health security

Nigeria’s adoption of the World Health Organization’s Joint External Evaluation (JEE) and National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS) will strengthen its national health security efforts. Writing in Health Security, experts at Resolve to Save Lives document the process of completing a JEE with partners in Nigeria in 2017 and subsequently creating a NAPHS to […]

Campaigns build vaccine confidence in Rwanda and Uganda

Resolve to Save Lives partnered with the Partnership for Healthy Cities to support cities in low- and middle-income countries in securing and administering COVID-19 vaccines. The campaigns, in Kampala, Uganda and Kigali, Rwanda, featured compelling video testimonials from an array of city residents about their positive experiences with inoculation. In Kigali, the campaign helped bring […]

healthcare worker training at scale: Reflections from COVID-19

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Resolve to Save Lives partnered with organizations across 22 countries in Africa to support healthcare worker training and mentorship in primary healthcare facilities. After finding that existing resources were not optimized for use by healthcare workers, the team developed a self-paced, online course about infection prevention and control […]

Highlighting the linkages between healthcare worker safety and epidemic preparedness

A new page on PreventEpidemics.org highlights the linkages between healthcare worker safety and epidemic preparedness and describes our team’s ongoing work to improve infection prevention and control measures at the primary healthcare level across Africa. Between April 2020 and January 2021, we worked with a variety of stakeholders and organizations to help train more than […]

Improving IPC in Zimbabwe

As part of a larger project to increase healthcare worker safety, the Prevent Epidemics team has worked to improve infection prevention and control measures and ensure maintenance of essential health services at the primary healthcare level at facilities across nine countries. In Zimbabwe, RTSL partnered with the Infection Control Association of Zimbabwe from February 2021-2022 […]

Celebrating advances in blood pressure control in Ethiopia

Our Ethiopia team marked World Hypertension Day with an event at Maychew Health Center in Addis Ababa featuring representatives from the Ministry of Health, the Addis Ababa Health Bureau and the Cardiac and Heart Association. A patient from the Ethiopia Hypertension Control Initiative also spoke about the experience of receiving hypertension care. Participants highlighted the […]

Implementation of the 7-1-7 target for detection, notification, and response to public health threats in five countries: a retrospective, observational study

Implementation of the 7-1-7 target for detection, notification, and response to public health threats in five countries: a retrospective, observational study

The 7-1-7 target supports timely detection, notification, and response to outbreaks. Writing in the Lancet Global Health, experts from Resolve to Save Lives assessed 41 public health events in Brazil, Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria, and Uganda between 2018 and 2022 to understand the frequency at which targets for detection (7 days), notification (1 day) and responses […]

Impact of a Newly Established Revolving Outbreak Investigation Fund on Timeliness of Response to Public Health Emergencies in Nigeria

Impact of a Newly Established Revolving Outbreak Investigation Fund on Timeliness of Response to Public Health Emergencies in Nigeria

Revolving outbreak investigation funds (ROIF) can accelerate outbreak response times when coupled with streamlined approval processes. Writing in Health Security, experts from Resolve to Save Lives analyze the impact of ROIF in Nigeria, which were established by our partners at Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) in 2019. Comparing outbreak responses before and […]

Providing fast, flexible funds to shorten time to respond to disease threats in Nigeria

Since 2017, Resolve to Save Lives has helped the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the African Field Epidemiology Network establish and maintain the Revolving Outbreak Investigation Fund (ROIF). This provides for the rapid release of funds for the NCDC to investigate, verify and control infectious outbreaks. With this support, Nigeria has reduced its […]

Expanding Quality-Assured COVID-19 Testing Capacity Across Africa

Our team worked with the African Society for Laboratory Medicine and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to strengthen COVID-19 testing capacity across the African continent. An external quality assurance scheme ensured the tests were of high quality.

New report on COVID-19 in Africa shows widespread willingness to get vaccinated, underscoring need for consistent supply and additional logistical support

The fourth and final PERC report indicates that people in African Union Member States are overwhelmingly willing to get vaccinated. The report considers why global vaccination efforts have been plagued by inequity, as well as the logistical challenges to vaccinating the African continent. It further outlines the continued importance of preventive measures—particularly individual measures such […]