Nine African countries announced new initiatives to strengthen health professions education in their respective nations.
Developed during a five-day workshop held by the World Health Organization Regional Office in Dakar, Senegal, the plans brought together leaders from Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Benin, Chad and Lesotho.
Based on the WHO Africa Prototype Competency-Based Curricula, the plans will help guide reforms in each country to improve pre-service education and align professional training with national needs. The roadmaps were also developed through shared experiences among the countries.
Among the topics that will be addressed through the initiatives are national policies, government regulations and actions needed to adopt and introduce more education for health professionals.
Following the workshop, the countries will implement their roadmaps with help from WHO, inspiring other African countries in the region to follow suit.
“The competency-based education roadmap provides countries with a costed and structured pathway to institutionalise competency-based health professions education, develop national reference curricula and strengthen the quality of health professions education,” said Dr. James Avoka Asamani, leader of the Health Workforce at the WHO Regional Office for Africa.
“As part of the Africa Health Professions Education Transformation and Harmonisation Initiative, it supports the development of a health workforce equipped with the competencies needed to respond to Africa’s evolving health needs.”
Uganda’s participation in the program comes amid the country’s reported end to the Ebola crisis.
Late last week, national leaders announced that the last remaining patient diagnosed with Ebola had been discharged from the hospital. The patient was isolated in a unit at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, the country’s capital.
Uganda will now begin a 42-day countdown, after which it can be declared virus-free.
Approximately 20 people were diagnosed with the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. Two of the patients died from their infections.
Of those 20 people, 15, including the last patient, initially came into contact with the virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the outbreak began, before traveling to Uganda.
All cases have been confirmed as being centralized in Kampala. No other communities were exposed to the virus. No new cases have been reported since June 21.
The latest crisis is one of several outbreaks the country has faced in the past two decades. To address confirmed cases, Ugandan officials have been diligent in isolation and contact tracing.
“The case fatality rate of less than 10% is among the lowest recorded in Ebola outbreaks because the lowest has always been 30%,” said Dr. Kasonde Mwinga, a WHO representative in Uganda. “That is not by luck. It is because people invested in preparedness.”
