Enhanced Health Camp Training

Since answering the call in 2014 from the Kano State Polio Emergency Operations Center (EOC), eHealth Africa (eHA) is a regular partner for driving Health Camp support for Immunization Plus Days (IPDs, which take place in Kano State’s 44 Local Government Areas (LGAs). As part of the National Polio Eradication Program in Nigeria, eHA is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

What are Health Camps?

Health Camps were created and incorporated into IPDs with the goal of incentivizing community members to receive polio vaccinations for their children, aged 0-5 years. The incentive was created by providing free medicines through health camp boxes, as well as free consultations with a community health worker. If the consultation results in a health need that goes beyond the scope of the health box, the patient is referred to a hospital for needed treatment.

Health Camp workers are a valuable and sustainable resource for Nigeria’s health infrastructure. Having properly trained clinicians and assistant clinicians working in close partnership with local health workers contributes substantially to obtaining more practical, effective, and culturally relevant health care delivery systems at a community level.

Enhanced Health Camp Training

Because of the importance of the health care worker in the efficiency of Health Camps for their local communities, eHA is designing the Enhanced Health Camp Training as an intensive and engaging learning environment to increase the skills and teamwork of health workers.  The target audience of the training program will include Local Government Immunization Officers, Essential Drug Officers, and community health workers (clinicians and assistant clinicians).

eHA's community health trainers will facilitate the training, alongside Kano state’s EOC partners. This new enhanced training will be implemented in a series of graduated steps that, when completed will instill confidence and ensure a smooth performance of the health camp workers.

The Training Curriculum

To create the Enhanced Health Camp Training, eHA staff will begin by identifying the health needs, priorities, and resources from the Kano State Primary Health Care Management Board, other partner organizations, and communities themselves. These requirements will then be translated into a curriculum which will be used by trainers, and will create an evaluation process measuring the outcome of the training.

The training program is anticipated to be conducted once, before the March IPD round, to last four days: one day for hand-off training of curriculum for trainers themselves, one day for training at the state level, and a two-day LGA level training during the 2016 IPD months.

An important goal in creating this training is ensuring it covers the comprehensive needs of the EOC. That is why EOC leadership will play a crucial role in spearheading the training and direct it toward solving local needs at the EOCs.  

The expectation on data following the training is that the quality of Health Camp data will increase. This increase in quality should go hand in hand with a reduction in human factor data errors, reducing the rate of data cleaning required per round.

Enhanced Training for Better Results

Expanding the knowledge and skills of Health Camp workers to assume more responsible roles in primary health care programs is a productive and rewarding experience for the trainees, for other health professionals, and for community members. Most Health Camp workers have many years of experience tending to family members health problems. They are dedicated to serving their patients and are eager to expand their skills in providing better healthcare to communities. The Enhanced Health Camp Training will build upon the wealth of knowledge and experience staff already possess.

The training will also help facilitate the expanded scope of eHA, and initiate direct contact with Health Camp workers in all LGAs, providing a tool to give regular field feedback. Enhancing the role of these practitioners and promoting closer collaboration between them and medical community offers new hope for improving the overall health of individuals and families through sustainable primary health care programs in Africa.

Africa Healthcare Summit

In London, Adam Thompson showcased eHA’s innovative approach of engaging with the private sector to improve healthcare outcomes in West Africa.

The Executive Director and Co-Founder of eHealth Africa Adam Thompson was recently in London, where he spoke at the Africa Healthcare Summit (17-18 February). He spoke as part of a panel looking at the roles that NGO partnerships play in improving healthcare for people across the African Continent.

Mr Thompson focused on the innovative approach that eHA played in responding to the Ebola response that affected West Africa. He talked about how the eHA team set up the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Lagos, Nigeria at the very beginning of the Ebola outbreak, directly procuring services from private sector organisations. These included telecoms companies for services to allow health care workers to track Ebola cases in the field, gas stations for emergency response vehicles, and internet service providers for connectivity to run the EOC.

By adopting a more creative approach and working with the private sector as a partner rather than vendor (which is normally a lengthy formal tendering process), the EOC was set up in one week. This resulted in Ebola being contained within months in Nigeria, and only 20 cases across the country. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone also adopted this approach, and eHA played a crucial role in the setting and scaling up of both EOCs and call centers within months. This was an extraordinary achievement given the logistical challenges and scale of the problem.

There were a large number of high profile delegates present, including eight Ministers of Health, representatives from the African Development Bank, and numerous Senior Managers from leading private sector health companies across Africa, including Siemens Healthcare.  Notable speakers from Nigeria included the Honorable Minister of Health Professor I.F Adewole, who focused on how the President of Nigeria is placing a high priority on health system strengthening given current challenges. The health policy is being reviewed, which includes developing a health ICT framework. We hope that this framework will ensure that millions more from remote areas of the country will now have access to health care.

The second day of the summit focused on discussions around public-private partnerships, improving primary healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the importance of Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) partnerships. The conference overall was a great opportunity to witness how private sector partnerships play a vital role in tackling priority global health challenges.

A Strong Partnership: Kano State and eHealth Africa

The Kano State Primary Health Care Management Board renovation project provides the right facilities for staff to deliver crucial primary health care interventions across Kano State.

eHealth Africa (eHA) is finalizing a project with the Executive Secretary (ES) of the Kano State Primary Health Care Management Board (KSPHCMB), Dr. Muhammed Nasir Mahmoud, to renovate and upgrade the KSPHCMB’s Offices in Kano, Nigeria.

eHA worked for one month with the KSPHCMB to renovate the building and outside areas. Internet, solar panels, electricity and other facilities were added to provide a better work environment for the Executive Secretary and over 50 staff working for the KSPHCMB. “I believe if one has a conducive environment to work in with the right equipment, tools, and facilities, there should be no reason for people not to work effectively,” said Dr. Mahmoud.

Dr. Mahmoud, has been in the role for over six months, and has seen a real difference in how stakeholders and visitors now see the board’s work through the building’s renovations. He manages the day to day activities of the KSPHCMB, and also oversees the activities of 1,143 Healthcare Facilities in 44 Local Government Areas of Kano State.

“When I came, the place had a lot of issues and was dilapidated,” said Dr. Mahmoud. “The renovations have built up KSPHCMB’s portfolio and general standing in the community. People come here everyday now, and are always impressed with the changes they see, which makes me proud to head this organisation.”

"Today’s world is a technological world, and without technology people will continue to be disadvantaged. I believe the innovations of eHA will continue to benefit us and other sectors in Kano." - Dr. Muhammed Nasir Mahmoud

The renovation project is one component of the joint work and long term partnership between  eHA and the KSPHCMB to improve primary health care in Kano State. Kano State has many challenges in health care delivery because of security issues and physical challenges in reaching remote locations. This results in the most vulnerable segments of society falling severely ill with preventable and treatable diseases including malaria, tapeworms, ulcers and diarrhea.

Collaboration projects between eHA and KSPHCMB include the management and coordination of immunizations across the state, a health communication system (Kano Connect), management of Emergency Operation Centers, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tracking, and the implementation of Health Camps linked to monthly Immunization Plus Day (IPD) campaigns. Another collaboration is Vaccine Direct Delivery, which takes vaccines from KSPHCMB cold stores and directly delivers them to rural health facilities.

“I have been partnering with eHealth Africa for many years,” said Dr. Mahmoud,”and we are currently working on signing a MoU to strengthen communication within the primary health care system. I know there are many areas where we will continue to partner with eHA, and I hope we will continue to explore these other areas. Today’s world is a technological world, and without technology people will continue to be disadvantaged. I believe the innovations of eHA will continue to benefit us and other sectors in Kano.”