AFENET@20 West Africa – Francophone Regional Updates

Standout achievements over the past 20 years

• Establishment of Regional West Africa Francophone Office based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
• Nine countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Togo) have seen the birth of their FETP program implemented, including
  • 2 advanced FETP programs (Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast)
  • 7 FETP Intermediate programs
  • 9 FETP Frontline programs
• Nine countries with basic field epidemiology skills:
  • 2780 Frontline Graduates
  • 336 Intermediate Graduates
  • 189 Advanced Graduates
• 787 graduates deployed for the management of outbreaks and epidemics of (Polio, Dengue, Covid19, Chikunguga , Meningitis, Measles, Food poisoning, cholera, Mpox, Lassa fever, rabies, etc.)
• 3305 investigations of cases or outbreaks or epidemics carried out (Polio, Dengue, Covid19, Chikunguga , Lassa fever, rabies, PPR, anthrax, Meningitis, Measles, poisoning, cholera, Mpox , avian flu, contagious bovine pneumonia, foot-and-mouth disease, etc.)
• 8340 data quality audits carried out in health facilities, in technical support areas for livestock farming, in forestry posts
• 5560 weekly summaries of monitoring data produced
• 525 Surveillance System Evaluation carried out
• 530 Analysis of epidemiological surveillance database carried out
• 20 group field works on concerns of the health ministries of the countries
• 2780 in-depth analyses of monitoring data quality issues in fishbone diagram form carried out
• 3612 awareness sessions were conducted, reaching more than 8,000 agents and more than 3,100,000 community members.

Impact of FETP graduates in the region

• All FETP programs in countries are managed by FETP graduates (Resident Advisor, Field coordinator, mentors, supervisors)
• Program directors, coordinators, focal points and supervisors are now FETP graduates in the countries
• More than 200 graduates now hold key positions at central, regional, district and funding organization levels.
• FETP is a powerful and influential network in many aspects of public health – communicable diseases and NCDs, multi-sectoral
• Mentors trained in-country and supporting ACDC and other countries

 Some of the key lessons learned over time

• Training, including all One Health approach, strengthens collaboration and improves epidemiological surveillance and response when there is a public health incident.
• Training alone will not improve surveillance and response architecture
• FETP training and PHEM training are complementary in the proper management of public health incidents and events.
• AFENET needs to be less FETP-centric to influence public health.
• Diplomatic skills required for staff in countries
• Training in resource mobilization is necessary for staff in countries
• Being registered in the country and having an AFENET office in country facilitates the mobilization of resources for the programs

By Dr Seogo Pedwinde Hamadou