By KT Reporter
Public health experts attending the Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Leadership Conference have emphasized the critical need to strengthen the laboratory workforce as a key strategy for preventing the disastrous effects of future pandemics or public health emergencies.
Speaking at the conference, Dr. Mary Boyd, the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) Uganda Director said that as a lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic, Uganda needs to develop resilient country-led systems to better prepare for future emergencies noting that training in laboratory leaders is one of the ways through which the country can develop sustainable health security.
Global health security involves the ability to prevent, detect and quickly respond to health emergencies and Boyd says the United States Government Global Health Security Strategy (GHSS) 2024 emphasizes that achieving global, sustainable health security can only happen by working together with all countries.
“No one is safe until everyone is safe. This strategy aligns closely with the work we’re doing here today in Uganda and reflects our shared goal of protecting communities from future health threats. We continue to leverage our expertise and resources to build capacity in disease surveillance, emergency response, and workforce development ensuring that public health systems are ready to address both present and future challenges”, she said.
At the event, Field Epidemiology fellows who have taken part in a two-year part-time Laboratory Leadership program run by the National Institute of Public Health presented findings of their research work conducted both in the area of human and animal health emergencies. Dr Salome Okware, an Epidemiologist at the World Health Organisation Uganda office says the graduates of this program are highly skilled and urged the government to find a way of retaining them such that they can offer support in places where they are required.
During the fellowship, these experts were embedded within different departments within the Ministry of health where some were deployed in the malaria control programme, others in the AIDS Control Programme and some were deployed in surveillance and emergency preparedness in addition to the immunisation program. URN spoke to Dr Anthony Ziramunno, a fellow who was deployed as a Laboratory Technician in Kayunga district, and said they studied African swine fever and discovered that the disease continued to transmit because of the delay in reporting by farmers and the fact they were not limiting visitors from accessing their farms-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
