A team of delegates from the National War College led by Col. Mitchell recently visited the eHealth Africa (eHA) Liberia Office, and were welcomed by eHA Country Director Aurelio Gomes. Other eHA team members present to welcome the delegates were Program Manager Olivia Elee, Project Manager Aji J. Kalau, Operations Manager Sulaiman Sesay, and Health Informatics Manager Nathan Humphreys. The purpose of the visit was for the War College delegates to learn about eHA activities and operations in Liberia at the peak of the 2014 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak.
Aji Kalau presented an overview of eHA operations during the fight against the EVD outbreak. Mr Kalau explained that eHA operations began in September 2014 where support teams were set up, and National and County Emergency Operations Centers were established. eHA teams renovated specimen collection and blood testing labs, as well as community care centers.
Mr Kalau went on to describe how eHA developed IT related software to support contact tracing activities, as well as tools for monitoring each patient's status at the Ebola Treatment Units. eHA’s Country Director Aurelio Gomes spoke about the valuable support, partnerships, and funding that allowed eHA to provide the response needed to successfully combat the EVD outbreak in Liberia.
Col. Mitchell and his team responded to the presentation with questions about challenges encountered by eHA during the Ebola response, how these challenges were handled, and how set goals were achieved in spite of the challenges. The delegates also inquired about eHA’s experience working in a multicultural scene with diversity and partnership in the fight against EVD. All their inquiries were answered by the Country Director and eHA team members.
The delegates also talked about their experience in the field using cutting edge ehealth technology, especially in places where there is little to no internet connectivity available.
At the end of the meeting, the National War College team presented Liberia’s Country Director with a commemorative coin and a mug. Col. Mitchell expressed appreciation to eHA for agreeing to meet with his team, and also commended eHA for a job well-done in supporting Liberia’s Ministry of Health during the fight against the 2014 Ebola outbreak.