Updates from Zimbabwe

First year Zimbabwe FETP trainees completed their academic modules on the 10th of July 2009 and have since been deployed to their respective field attachment sites.

Eleven abstracts were accepted for the forthcoming TEPHINET/AFENET Mombasa Scientific conference, six oral and five poster presentations.

Updates from Nigeria

The program is still collating data for the design and implementation of a mortality-based surveillance system to augment the national morbidity based surveillance system i.e. IDSR.

Four residents are involved in a national IDSR implementation assessment. They recently attended a pre-assessment meeting as well as a protocol development meeting and are now in various states of the Federation carrying out the assessment.

Out of the 18 abstracts the program submitted for the TEPHINET/AFENET Mombasa conference, a total of 6 abstracts were accepted for oral presentations and 11 for poster presentations.

The program has organized a residents’ seminar to take place in the University of Ibadan campus from 20 to 25 July 2009. They will also have a continuous assessment test.

Mr. David Mukanga, the AFENET Executive Director AFENET visited the Nigeria program from 15 to 18 July 2009. During his visit he met various stakeholders who included CDC Nigeria, Ministries of Health and Agriculture.

Updates from Uganda

The Ministry of Health has so far investigated 41 persons for H1N1. A total of 5 cases had been confirmed by 17 July 2009. Four trainees from the Uganda program are currently participating in the contact tracing exercise.

Updates from Kenya

The 6th cohort residents (12 in total) began their first field placement on 6th July 2009. Seven residents have been placed in various divisions under the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation. Four are attached to various organisations, which collaborate with the Kenya FELTP, while one is attached to the Ministry of Livestock and Veterinary Services. This placement is expected to end after 5 weeks.

Residents investigated a cholera outbreak in Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Kibera, home to almost 1 million people is one of the largest slums in Africa. Residents were involved in active case searching and they managed to identify 21 cases that were never detected by the existing surveillance. The residents also collected stool and environmental samples which are currently being analysed. They were also involved in health education.

Response to the H1N1 Influenza pandemic is still ongoing. One resident is involved in describing the cases while four other residents are involved in health worker sensitization and training. The health worker training stated on 6 July 2009 and was organised by CDC and participants were drawn from Nyanza Province, Western Province, Eastern Province, Coast Province and Nairobi Area. As of 14 July 2009, 19 cases of novel H1N1 had been confirmed in Kenya.

All cohort 5 residents have submitted their final thesis proposals. Majority have started collecting data which is expected to end after 3 months.

The Kenya National focal point (NFP) is currently contacting AIZIP team members to confirm their schedule with an aim of fixing a date for the AIZIP members meeting.

Updates from Secretariat

AFENET participated in a climate change/food security meeting on 9 July 2009. The meeting was organised by the Center for International Governance Initiative (CIGI), Canada. The meeting took place at Makerere University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Others participants were drawn from CIGI, Guelth University Canada, Makerere University Medical School, and Makerere University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The purpose of the meeting was to identify ways in which CIGI can build human capacity in Uganda to tackle climate change. AFENET was charged with spearheading laboratory investigative techniques for factors that might be responsible for climate change. ', 'AFENET', '2009-07-22 17:50:57'), (14, 'News updates (20th-26th July 2009)', '

Updates from Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe FETP held a Pandemic Influenza/ H1N1 stakeholders orientation meeting on 16 and 17 July 2009 at Holiday Inn, Harare. Dr. Monica Musenero attended and made two presentations at that meeting.

The Zimbabwe FETP held a one day Alumni meeting on 18 July 2009 at St. Lucia Park in Harare. Twenty of the invited MPH graduates attended. This was a follow up meeting to the one held in Bulawayo last year.

Updates from Nigeria

Thirteen residents from the Nigeria FELTP, the Program Director, Resident Advisor, CDC networks coordinator, program assistant, Federal Ministry of Health epidemiologists and 2 Ahmadu Bello University lecturers travelled to the University of Ibadan for a one week seminar.

The outcomes of this seminar were:

-The university administration formally met the residents and interacted with them.

Updates from Rwanda

The second short course for the Rwanda program ended on Friday, 24 July 2009. This was a 2 weeks short course on Outbreak Management and Surveillance. There were a total of 37 participants; these were drawn from hospitals, district health teams, TRAC PLUS, and RWADA. The course facilitators included officials from CDC Atlanta and CDC Rwanda, Tanzania FELTP, AFENET, Rwanda FELTP and Rwanda School of Public Health.

Updates from Uganda

There are suspected cholera outbreaks in the districts of Busia (eastern border) & Kasese (western border), and a suspected typhoid outbreak in Bukwo district. Four trainees from the Uganda program will join the Ministry of Health outbreak investigation and response teams. These trainees had previously participated in epidemic preparedness trainings (EPR).

Field supervision of year one trainees is still ongoing.

Updates from Kenya

Residents from the Kenya FELTP together with CDC officials are jointly investigating an outbreak of unknown disease among African Union peacekeepers in Somalia. Between 1 June and 27 July 2009, a total of 21 soldiers were flown in from Somalia and admitted at the Aga Khan Hospital in Kenya. The majority of the cases are Burundian with only 2 Ugandans. Three deaths have occurred; the first being a 26 year old male Ugandan, the second a 26 year old male Burundian, and the third a 32 year old Burundian male. Seventeen of the 21 soldiers are from the second battalion. Cases have varied presenting symptoms which include palpitations, swelling of legs, and chest pain. Investigations are still ongoing.

Updates from Tanzania

From 20 – 27 July 2009, the Tanzania FELTP residents undertook their semester two exams. These included both written and oral examinations.

Dr. Fausta Mosha -TFELTP Laboratory Resident Advisor is currently attending a Graduate Summer Session in Epidemiology in Michigan, USA.

Updates from Secretariat

Staff at the AFENET secretariat attended a retreat at Ranch on the Lake from 22nd – 24th July 2009. The retreat was facilitated by Ms. Margaret Morehouse from the Training Resource Group Inc. based in Virginia - USA. This retreat was funded by the HS 20/20 with the objective of helping AFENET build systems and enhance team work as a means of addressing challenges associated with rapid institutional/organisational growth. A total of 18 staff and one fellow from Zimbabwe Dr. Lazarus Kuonza participated.

On 24 July 2009, Dr. Jared Omolo- the Coordinator of the Kenya Program and Ms. Marion Mwangi- the Program Administrator visited the secretariat. They had a meeting which was chaired by Mr. David Mukanga- AFENET Executive Director. Issues discussed ranged from expectations and challenges faced in running the Kenya FELTP, updates on the upcoming TEPHINET/AFENET conference, and mechanisms of mobilising resources for the program from partners within and outside Kenya. ', 'AFENET', '2009-07-30 19:13:02'), (15, 'News updates (27 July - 7 August 2009)', '

Updates from Kenya

• Nine residents from the Kenya FELTP graduated on 30 July 2009. The ceremony was held at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. The graduates included 4 trainees from South Sudan, 1 from Zanzibar, and 4 from Kenya. Of the 9 graduates, 7 were from the Epi track and 2 from the Lab track as shown below:

Updates from Tanzania

• The Tanzania FELTP residents have finished their semester two examinations. They are currently working on their proposals which they will have to submit on 14 August 2009.
• Currently two residents: Dr. Salma Masauni and Mr. Daudi Kadigi are participating in a cholera outbreak investigation in Pemba, Zanzibar Island.

 Updates from Uganda

• Dr. Sebastian Baine is the new Program Director for the Master of Public Health (MPH) program at Makerere University School of Public Health (MUSPH). On 31 July 2009, Dr. George Pariyo handed over leadership of the Uganda program to Dr. Sebastian Baine during a ceremony that took place at MUSPH. Dr. Baine has been a staff member at MUSPH since the beginning of the Program in the early 1990s, and has recently been serving as MPH academic co-ordinator.

 Updates from Ghana

• The second cohort of residents has been in the field since 20 July 2009. The residents will spend a total of eight weeks on field attachment.Â
  
  
• On 27 July 2009, the Ghana/AFENET Advisory Committee held a meeting at the Ghana School of Public Health.
  
  
• From 22 to 25 July 2009, Dr. Chima John Ohuabunwo and Mr. Simon Kwadje undertook a supervisory visit to the residents in Brong- Ahafo and Upper- West.
  
  
• Currently Dr. Chima John Ohuabunwo and Dr. Nathaniel Yebuah are mentoring and giving support to the residents in the Eastern and Volta regions.
  
  
• Dr. Suzanne Elbon from CDC-Atlanta and Mr. Anthony Kimuli from AFENET secretariat- Kampala visited the Ghana program from 3 - 7 August 2009. The purpose of their visit was to assist the program with Epi Track implementation.

 Updates from Nigeria

• Four residents participated in a short course on Outbreak Investigation in Kaduna State. The short course ended on 7 August 2009.
  
  
• One resident is helping with data analysis for the just concluded IDSR implementation assessment. The residents participated in the protocol development as well as the related field work for IDSR implementation assessment.
  
  
• Michele Evering-Watley from the Division of Global Public Health Capacity Development, CDC Atlanta is visiting the program. The purpose of her visit is to help the program with Cluster 3 planning, Cluster 2 evaluation, Cohort 2 selection processes and documentation of the progress of the Nigeria program.

 Updates from the Secretariat

• On 6 August 2009, the bi-monthly Scientific Hour was launched at the secretariat. This forum will offer technical staff an opportunity to keep abreast with the latest developments in science by critiquing papers and making presentations. The Executive Director, Mr. David Mukanga made the maiden presentation based on a paper titled: "Public health requirements for rapid progress in global health". This paper was written by Dr. Thomas Frieden –the newly appointed CDC Director.
  
  
• Dr. Monica Musenero was in Lyon-France from 3 to 7 August 2009. She represented AFENET at a meeting that discussed and finalised the International Health Regulations (IHR) monitoring indicators and tools. These indicators and tools will be used at country level to monitor progress of IHR implementation, and by WHO to report to the World Health Assembly. Dr. Musenero chaired the group that discussed preparedness, chemical hazards, ports of entry, zoonoses and human resources for IHR.

 Updates from South Africa

• The South African Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (SAFELTP) had a meeting with the School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria on 23 July 2009. The meeting was chaired by Professor Kuku Voyi, Head of the School. Senior staff members from the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Track attended this meeting. Among the issues discussed were:Â the joint appointment of SAFELTP staff, supervision, teaching, assessment of students and new admission for 2010.
  
  
• SAFELTP conducted the second field supervision meeting with site supervisors on 29 July 2009 in Johannesburg. Site supervisors from all nine provinces attended. The meeting achieved the intended objectives. The confirmation of the memorandum of agreement between sites and SAFELTP was received. Site supervisors shared their experiences of field supervision, reaffirmed their commitment and discussed obstacles and solutions for some of the challenges encountered. The site supervisors identified day to day activities for SAFELTP residents to obtain core competencies that can be undertaken when placed at the sites and looked for possible dates for future supervisory field visits.
  
  
• The second SAFELTP seminar was carried out on 30 July 2009. The residents from the 2007 and 2008 cohorts presented their studies. These included the five oral presentations and eighteen poster presentations accepted for the 5th TEPHINET and 3rd AFENET Regional Scientific Conference were presented. The site supervisors attended the seminar and gave good comments.Â
  
  
• The 2009 cohort has completed their core modules and examination at the University of Pretoria. They are now in their third field placement. Mmampedi Huma, 2007 cohort, with some residents from the 2009 cohort were involved in interviewing the first 100 cases of the influenza A (H1N1) virus in South Africa to describe the epidemiology of the disease in South Africa.