By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The Post Ebola Recovery Social Investment Fund (PERSIF) has held a five day training of trainers for nurses and nursing students at the Eastern Technical University (ETU) Integrated Disease Surveillance Report (IDSR).
The training which started on the 17th and to end tomorrow seeks to enlighten the trainees on how to quickly detect epidemic through certain signs and symptoms.
Head of Department Community Health at College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS) Dr. Abdul Karim Mbawah said the training is to strengthen and capacitate the institution to render community-based services, awareness on public health programmes, and psychosocial counseling.
Mbawah stated that the knowledge gained will serve as a measure to curtail any outbreak in the country.
He recalled that the country lacked the skills to handle the 2014 Ebola outbreak, which resulted to the deaths of health workers and citizens. The doctor stressed that empowering the trainees will be very important in order for them to be able to detect any emergence of an epidemic that could be reported to the appropriate authorities
He added that the integrated disease surveillance report has been included into medical curricula for all medical students so that they will be better trained and be knowledgeable on IDSR so that the idea of bringing experts during outbreaks will be a thing of the past.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor of Eastern Technical University Gbessay Amodu encouraged lecturers to make good use of the training, noting that it is part of preparing them on how to help the community.
He added that research is now the key in finding solutions to any illness, and that medical personnel will know how to deal with the dynamics of different viruses based on research.
Delivering her keynote address the Minister of Social Welfare Baindu Dassama Kamara stated that the training is to provide skills, increase productivity and strengthen the health system.
She said that PERSIF project has played a significant role in improving community response to outbreaks and contributing to inclusive growth, gender equality and poverty reduction in the three Mano River countries that were affected by COVID.
Kamara said that the PERSIF project had exposed the vulnerability of Ebola survivors, highlighting that some of them experienced problems with their hearing, speech and other health complications.
The minister expressed her ministry’s commitment to working with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, to give response on social and health related dynamics that will match with universal health coverage.
The training was organized by PERSIF through the Ministry of Social Welfare (MoSW) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.
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