WHO works closely with the Federal Ministry of Health and partners in the enhancement of the preparedness and response plan

In the wake of the West African Ebola outbreak currently ongoing in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and in line with the 8 August 2014 declaration of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Ethiopia has heightened preparedness to prevent the spread of the disease to the country. 

The Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), a special agency of the Federal Ministry of Health, leads and coordinates national preparedness activities through a national technical working group (TWG) which meets several times a week to devise plans, monitor progress, develop guidelines and standard operating procedures, oversee logistics and strengthen surveillance at the Addis Ababa Airport and other international ports of entry and international borders across the country. The TWG brings together several players from within the Government and development partners, including the Food, Medicine and Health Care Administration and Control Authority (FMHACA), the Pharmaceuticals Fund and Supply Agency (PFSA), the National Animal Laboratory, Ministry of Defense, Airport Authority, WHO, UNICEF, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Medicines sans Frontiers (MSF) and is co-chaired by EPHI and WHO. 

During the month of September, WHO continued to work with EPHI, the Addis Ababa City Health Bureau and partners to coordinate and provide EVD sensitization trainings to several frontline groups including Ethiopian Airlines and airport staff, airport security personnel (part of the Federal Police), airport taxi drivers, police officers, UN volunteers and a number of hotel staff. Health workers at Felegehiwot Hostpital in Bahir Dar also received the EVD training. 

The WHO Ethiopia Country Office facilitated and supported the training of five senior laboratory technologists from EPHI and the National Animal Laboratory at the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases. The training will commence in the first week of October 2014. The lab technologists will be trained on RT-PCR (real time Polymerase Chain Reaction) and BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3), returning with the necessary skills for laboratory testing of Ebola. They will also bring the required reagents provided by WHO. 

WHO Ethiopia also conducted a detailed EVD training for its technical officers at central and field levels focusing on Epidemiology, preventive measures, surveillance, contact tracing and SOPs for several preventive activities. The training will better equip the WHO team to better provide technical support in preparation and response activities in the regions.

As with other diseases, WHO actions for EVD preparedness and response include disease surveillance and information-sharing across regions to watch for outbreaks; technical assistance to investigate and contain health threats when they occur – such as on-site help to identify sick people and track disease patterns; advice on prevention and treatment options; deployments of experts and the distribution of health supplies (such as personal protective equipment for health workers); communications to raise awareness of the nature of the disease and protective health measures to control transmission of the virus; and activation of regional and global networks of experts to provide assistance, if requested, and mitigate potential international health effects and disruptions of travel and trade.

For more information, please contact Dr Admas Tefera, Preparedness, Surveillance and Response Programme Coordinator, WHO Ethiopia; email: admast [at] who.int

PHOTOS: WHO Ethiopia/ Loza Mesfin Tesfaye