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Public health emergency pre-deployment training in Tunisia
The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean is organizing public health emergency pre-deployment training course in Tunisia, in collaboration with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Humanitarian U in Canada and Le Sagasse University in Lebanon, from 1 to 7 December 2015.
The course is designed to prepare WHO country staff and Ministry of Health personnel to work effectively and safely in defined incident command systems in emergency and crisis situations, including epidemic and other disease outbreaks. The pre-deployment training will support government and UN cluster systems to implement humanitarian assistance in the case of a large-scale emergency, as well as comply with administrative, financial, human resources and reporting systems and standard operating procedures governing WHO health activities in crises.
Programme
The training programme will include 5 days of classroom instruction and simulation exercise. Study will proceed progressively with major themes, from risk assessment and preparedness on Day 1, responding to a sudden onset event on Day 2, administration and management on Day 3, responding to a chronic event on Day 4, and stabilization/recovery on Day 5.
Methods and materials
The course will include core materials needed for any hazard event. Examples, case studies and simulations will be modified to highlight the most common events for participants. This will include infectious disease outbreaks, radiological and chemical events, foodborne outbreaks, mass gatherings, natural disasters, and complex emergencies.
Assessment and accreditation
Certificates of attendance will be provided to participants based on full participation during all sessions, including completion of exercises. Successful candidates will be entered into a roster for possible mobilization in future emergency events.
Course costs
The costs of course will be fully covered by WHO.
Selection of applicants
Essential
- You are a public health professional in the area of national or international emergency response/ outbreak preparedness, alert and response
- You have or may be required to have coordination, operational or management responsibilities/duties in your current occupation
- You seek skills and knowledge as a generalist in responding to emergencies and outbreaks
- You are fluent in written and spoken English.
Desirable
- You have knowledge, understanding and experience in the field of disease prevention and control
- You have experience of field response in emergency or outbreak situations in humanitarian emergencies.
Please send completed application to:
High-level workshop in emergency risk communication convened in Saudi Arabia
High-level officials from the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia participated in a risk communication workshop from 4 to 6 August 2015. The training workshop was jointly organized by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and the Global Center for Mass Gathering Medicine (GCMGM), at the request of the Ministry of Health. Participants included delegates from the Ministry of Health, GCMGM, as well as from the MERS coronavirus command control centre.
Dr Hamad Al Duweila, Vice Minister for Health Affairs complimented the workshop, "We want to build on the cooperation from here onward after this very successful workshop on emergency risk communication. It takes the effort of all actors to respond effectively in public health events."
The purpose of the workshop was to equip public health policy-makers and other decision-makers with skills for communicating risk among the population, as well as keeping media informed, during mass gatherings. Risk communication priorities and principles were examined thoroughly. The workshop provided an opportunity for key stakeholders to arrive at a common understanding of risk communication and how to coordinate their efforts to bring about better public health outcomes during a puublic health emergency or outbreak.
The workshop was tailored for the senior management of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health. Among the participants were Dr Abdulaziz bin Saeed, Deputy Minister Public Health; Dr Hail Mater Al Alabdely, Director General of Health Facilities; Dr Rafat Hakeem, Director General Infectious Disease Control; Dr Mostafa Jamil Baljoon, General Directorate of Health Affairs in Makkah Region; Dr Abdul Hafiz Maaroof Turkistani, Assistant Director General of Health Affairs for Public Health, Makkah region; Dr Khalid Al Marghalani, the Advisor to the Minister and Supervisor General of Public Relations; and Dr Tariq bin Salem Al-‘Arnous, Director-General of Health Emergency.
Highly energetic and interactive discussion sessions took place to address how to mitigate public health threats. Table-top exercises, using real-life examples, were conducted to anchor all learning throughout the three-day workshop.
Communications is one of the core capacities in the public health response under the International Health Regulations (IHR). Risk communications at best brings better health outcomes in the event of a public health emergency of international concern.
Second international conference on mass gathering medicine, Saudi Arabia, 20–23 September 2013
The Global Centre for Mass Gatherings Medicine, a WHO collaborating centre, is hosting an international conference on mass gatherings medicine from 20 to 23 September 2013 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Mass gatherings, such as hajj and umrah, pose a challenge to global public health because of the potential for the spread of diseases both during and after the event as a result of crowd density and population movement. It is expected that this conference, the second of its kind, will contribute to establishing a virtual network of institutions and individuals to work in partnership and promote collaborative global research efforts in mass gathering medicine.
Related links
Second international conference on mass gathering medicine web site
World Hepatitis Day: Know it, Confront it
Hepatitis viruses A, B, C, D and E can cause acute and chronic infection and inflammation of the liver that can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. The world is celebrating World Hepatitis Day on 28 July. The global theme of the day is “This is hepatitis. Know it. Confront it”. The day also marks the birthday of Professor Baruch S. Blumberg who discovered the hepatitis B virus. In accordance with World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution WHA 63.18, the Day was first celebrated last year across the globe to raise public awareness on the risk and burden of viral hepatitis for individuals and communities and also to strengthen prevention and control efforts of viral hepatitis and its related disease.
Viral hepatitis is a group of diseases causing inflammation of the liver. There are five main types of hepatitis virus - A, B, C, D and E. Hepatitis is a potentially fatal disease. Many people experience no symptoms if left untreated. The danger and extent of hepatitis as a threat to public health is largely being ignored in the world. More needs to be done to stop this “silent epidemic”.
Although the burden of disease caused by viral hepatitis is growing, the problem remains largely ignored or unknown to many policy-makers, health workers and the public. Viral hepatitis affects 1 in every 12 people worldwide. Current estimates indicate that viral hepatitis is the eighth leading cause of death worldwide, causing close to 1 million deaths every year, on a par with deaths caused by HIV/AIDS or diarrhoeal diseases, and more than the number caused by tuberculosis and malaria.
Viral hepatitis caused by hepatitis A and E viruses is typically caused by ingestion of contaminated food and water. On the other hand, hepatitis B, C and D are spread by infected body fluids, including blood or blood products, contaminated medical equipment, by sexual contact and from mother-to-child during birth. In particular, hepatitis B and C often lead to chronic infection, and are the most common cause of liver cirrhosis and cancer.
All types of viral hepatitis (A, B, C, D and E) occur throughout the Eastern Mediterranean Region (Table 1). Some countries in the Region have higher infection rates for hepatitis C and hepatitis E than any other country in the world. The prevalence rate of chronic viral hepatitis (hepatitis B and C virus infection) in the Eastern Mediterranean Region is one of the highest in the world ranging from 2% to 10%. Civil unrest and conflict have undermined the health systems in many countries in the Region. The Region has seen many explosive outbreaks of hepatitis E and A in countries with large number of internally-displaced populations and refugees with inadequate sanitation.
Table 1. Burden of viral hepatitis in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
|
Hepatitis A |
Unknown. Mostly associated with contaminated water and food |
|---|---|
|
Hepatitis B |
More than 170 000 000 people are chronically infected and approximately 4.3 million new infections occur every year |
|
Hepatitis C |
Some 17 000 000 to 21 000 000 people are chronically infected and approximately 800 000 new infections occur every year in the Region. Most infections are acquired in health care settings. |
|
Hepatitis D |
Unknown. Both super-infection and co-infection occur with hepatitis B virus |
|
Hepatitis E |
Unknown. Explosive outbreaks have been seen in many countries in the Region. Infection in pregnancy is associated with a high risk of complications, including deaths. |
Hepatitis is a preventable disease and can be eliminated within our lifetime. Effective and cheap vaccines are available that can provide life long protection from hepatitis B infection. On the other hand, Hepatitis C is a curable disease. The chronic nature of the hepatitis B and C calls for strong focus on screening, care and treatment. With early detection and appropriate management, the quality of life of millions of people living with this disease can be improved.
World Hepatitis Day is an opportunity to focus attention on what can be done for prevention and control of viral hepatitis. Government, civil society, nongovernmental organizations, academia, patient groups and health professionals need to combine efforts to confront and combat this silent epidemic.
A Global Policy Report for the Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis has also been published, including a review of the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Related links
Global Policy report for prevention and control of viral hepatitis
Posters
Hepatitis affects over 500 million people. It could affect you | Arabic | French
Hepatitis affects over 500 million people. It could affect you | Arabic | French
