The Global One Health initiative (GOHi) has continued supporting the Ethiopian government in strengthening the national severe acute respiratory infection (SARI)/influenza-like illness (ILI) surveillance system through a range of capacity-building activities. A recently conducted joint supportive supervision on ILI/SARI sentinel sites indicated a critical gap in the trained workforce on sample collection at the facility level. The current staff turnover is believed to have contributed to the lack of trained professionals who collect respiratory samples at sentinel sites.
To address this challenge, GOHi, in collaboration with the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), organized the second round of standardized training. This training program will build the capacity of health care professionals working at SARI/ILI sentinel sites to improve proper specimen collection practices and specimen management. A total of 19 trainees from sites with a critical shortage of trained personnel were trained for two days in June.
Eyasu Tigabu, GOHi senior laboratory expert, facilitated the training sessions and covered several modules in this training. These training modules created the opportunity for mutual learning and enhanced discussions on the significant challenges and ways to improve ILI/SARI specimen flow. This training was provided as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act initiative funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.