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Fekadu ST, Gebrewahid AL, Mankoula W, Eteng W, Lokossou V, Kawe Y, Abdullah A, Jian L, Kol MTM, Wilton MC, Rosenfeld E, Bemo VN, Collard E, McGinley L, Halm A, Aragaw M, Conteh IN, Braka F, Gueye AS. Public health emergency operations centres in Africa: a cross-sectional study assessing the implementation status of core components and areas for improvement, December 2021. BMJ Open 2023; 13:e068934. [PMID: 37339838 PMCID: PMC10314583 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-068934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/22/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To assess implementation status of public health emergency operations centres (PHEOCs) in all countries in Africa. DESIGN Cross-sectional. SETTING Fifty-four national PHEOC focal points in Africa responded to an online survey between May and November 2021. Included variables aimed to assess capacities for each of the four PHEOC core components. To assess the PHEOCs' functionality, criteria were defined from among the collected variables by expert consensus based on PHEOC operations' prioritisation. We report results of the descriptive analysis, including frequencies of proportions. RESULTS A total of 51 (93%) African countries responded to the survey. Among these, 41 (80%) have established a PHEOC. Twelve (29%) of these met 80% or more of the minimum requirements and were classified as fully functional. Twelve (29%) and 17 (41%) PHEOCs that met 60%-79% and below 60% the minimum requirements were classified as functional and partially functional, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Countries in Africa made considerable progress in setting up and improving functioning of PHEOCs. One-third of the responding countries with a PHEOC have one fulfilling at least 80% of the minimum requirements to operate the critical emergency functions. There are still several African countries that either do not have a PHEOC or whose PHEOCs only partially meet these minimal requirements. This calls for significant collaboration across all stakeholders to establish functional PHEOCs in Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Senait Tekeste Fekadu
- Emergency Preparedness and Response cluster, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo
| | - Abrham Lilay Gebrewahid
- Emergency Preparedness and Response cluster, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo
| | - Wessam Mankoula
- Division of Emergency Preparedness and Response, African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Womi Eteng
- Division of Emergency Preparedness and Response, African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Virgil Lokossou
- ECOWAS Regional Center for Surveillance and Disease Control, West African Health Organisation, Abuja, Nigeria
| | - Yan Kawe
- Emergency Preparedness and Response cluster, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo
| | - Ali Abdullah
- WHO Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organisation Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt
| | - L Jian
- WHO Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Mathew Tut M Kol
- Division of Emergency Preparedness and Response, African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | | | - Emily Rosenfeld
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | | | - Emily Collard
- Global Public Health Directorate, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK
| | - Liz McGinley
- Global Public Health Directorate, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK
| | - Ariane Halm
- Department of infectious disease epidemiology, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
| | - Merawi Aragaw
- Division of Emergency Preparedness and Response, African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Ishata Nannie Conteh
- Emergency Preparedness and Response cluster, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo
| | - Fiona Braka
- Emergency Preparedness and Response cluster, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo
| | - Abdou Salam Gueye
- Emergency Preparedness and Response cluster, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo
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