UKHSA IHR Strengthening Project’s (IHR-SP) Emergency Preparedness Response and Resilience (EPRR) team has facilitated and provided technical input to the fourth regional training of trainers (ToT) on Public Health Emergency Operations Centres (PHEOC) in Cape Town, South Africa from 24 November to 6 December 2024.

UKHSA IHR-SP has supported Africa CDC, WHO African Regional Office (WHO AFRO) and WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (WHO EMRO) with this annual, bi-regional ToT initiative since November 2022 for the second cohort and in May 2023 for the third cohort.

Ongoing commitment to strengthening regional PHEOC capacity

The training is part of the ongoing work of partners across the region to strengthen PHEOC capacities and capabilities. It is in line with the bi-regional PHEOC strategic plan for Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean regions and the Joint Emergency Action Plan (JEAP), a strategic initiative between Africa CDC and WHO aimed at enhancing crisis management systems across Member States.

UKHSA was a key partner contributing to the development of the Bi-Regional PHEOC Strategic Plan for Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions. This training directly supports its shared objective alongside the JEAP to support preparedness and response coordination in at least 90% of Member States in Africa.

Significant progress has already been made and several Member States now have operational PHEOCs - over 100 experts were trained across the region in 2019, 2021, and 2023. These experts have been instrumental in operationalising national PHEOCs.

Expanding our reach

For this fourth cohort, 25 participants were selected and trained from 19 Member States and three regional bodies. These participants have important roles within the PHEOC and Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) systems within their country.

The in-person training was delivered over 11 days with presentations and activities focused on the concepts of public health emergency management, facilitation techniques and methodology, and finally the design and conduct of simulation exercises.  Four UKHSA IHR-SP Technical Advisers acted as trainers/facilitators to support this training. They delivered several of the presentations and provided support and feedback as part of the wider facilitation team alongside Africa CDC, WHO and other partners.

This training also provided opportunities for the participants to network and build relationships with peers and facilitators. This can provide a good foundation for implementation of the learning experiences following the training and thus a better accomplishment of the medium to long-term learning outcomes.

Following the training, participants will contribute to a roster of training and skilled experts, deployable to support public health emergency preparedness and training activities across the continent.

As part of the PHEOC Partners Network, UKHSA will provide ongoing support and a commitment to continue increasing the numbers of trained PHEOC staff across the Member States, to help Africa CDC and WHO to meet their strategic plan and JEAP objectives.  A follow up virtual workshop will take place in 2025 to find out how the learning is being implemented and to support ongoing improvements to the course development for cohort five.