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Kenya: Government, Amref Health Africa Partner on COVID-19 Response

In support of Kenya’s efforts to respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Amref Health Africa has partnered with the Ministry of Health to improve surveillance, early detection and track the spread of the disease.

Leveraging the innovative mobile technology – Leap, Amref and the Ministry of Health are launching a two-month campaign to educate health workers on COVID-19. This will enable health care workers to educate communities on the virus and relevant prevention measures. Using the mobile learning platform, health workers will also be trained to identify, isolate and refer suspected cases as well as maintain safety standards at points of entry or high-risk areas to prevent possible transmission.

The approach entails joint development and customisation of digital training content that will be deployed to health workers through their mobile devices (basic and/or smartphones). The digital content has been customized to fit the needs of the target audience which includes consideration of the skill level of the audience, language preference and preferred channels (text or audio messages).

Kenya has been identified as a Level 1 country for the coronavirus disease that was first reported from Wuhan, China, on 31 December 2019. Globally, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and national governments are working to put in place surveillance, prevention, and control measures.

With funding from the African Union Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Amref Health Africa will reach 24,000 Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) and 2,000 health workers at the facility level and ports of entry in Kenya using the jointly developed messages. However, these numbers are just a fraction of Kenya’s health workforce that can be mobilised to support these efforts. Amref continues to seek additional funds to reach many more health workers through the LEAP platform to educate local communities on the Corona Virus (COVID19).

Amref Health Africa has supported Ministries of Health and WHO during outbreak interventions including facilitating the provision of critical health care to remote communities across Africa as evidenced in participation during control measure roll out during the Ebola outbreaks in Uganda 2000 and 2012, Ebola outbreaks in Senegal and Guinea in 2014, Cholera outbreak in Kenya (2017) and Lassa fever in Nigeria (2018).

Amref has trained numerous health providers in infection prevention and control. This includes providing guidelines on specimen collection, storage and transportation for safe delivery of samples to reference laboratories for confirmation amongst other activities.

In Kenya, Amref has leveraged digital tools to provide accredited training to thousands of health workers across all levels of the health system.

Amref Health Africa

Amref Health Africa in Kenya is the largest International Health non-profit, serving millions of people every year across 35 countries in sub-Saharan Africa with an average annual budget of USD 40million.

Founded in 1957 by three surgeons as the Flying Doctors of East Africa. Three doctors Sir Michael Wood, Sir Archibald McIndoe and Tom Rees – drew up a plan to provide medical care in East Africa, where they had all worked for many years as reconstructive surgeons. The health based organization began on the continent as the Flying Doctors, bringing surgical services to remote communities work with some of the most remote and marginalised communities on the African continent, ensuring they can access their right to health.

Amref Health Africa has offices in Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, South Sudan, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda as well as in Europe and North America. The organization employs over 1,000 people.

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