July 8, 2025 (Machakos, Kenya): The IGAD Secretariat in collaboration with the East, Central, and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC) conducted a 6-days Strategic Risk Assessment (SRA) Trainers of Trainees (TOT) workshop attended by public health experts from Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania, in Machakos, Kenya.
The training which was held from 30th June to 5th July, 2025, under the Health Emergency Preparedness, Response and Resilience Programme (HEPRRP) – Multiphase Programmatic Approach (MPA), focused on methods and practical approaches for collecting information to assess hazards, their severity and likelihood, as well as the community’s vulnerability and the system’s coping capacity.
Participants were also equipped with skills in developing Public Health Emergency Contingency Plans (PHECP) for Port of Entry (PoE) and Cross-border setting in the HEPRRP – MPA Participating Countries.
The Head of Health Unit at the IGAD Secretariat, Dr. Mohammed Elduma, underscored the urgent need for coordinated, multisectoral responses rooted in preparedness, timely detection, and effective emergency management, to deal with public health threats in the region.
Dr. Elduma stressed that the COVID-19 pandemic along with other ongoing public health threats such as Ebola, Mpox, and Cholera have exposed the vulnerabilities of health systems worldwide and particularly in our region.
“The training aims to prevent transboundary threats and enhance regional health security,” said Dr. Elduma.
Representing ECSA-HC, Dr Benedict Mushi, the Monitoring and Evaluation Expert, called upon participants to initiate cross-border risk assessments and foster a culture of joint preparedness and response.
Dr. Mushi said the training was a demonstration of our shared commitment to regional solidarity, public health readiness and the practical implementation of the International Health Regulations (2005).
For practical simulations, participants visited the Namanga One Stop Border Post at the Kenya – Tanzania Border, for practical sessions on the application of methodologies and tools to assess/identify strategic public health hazards and related risks at the ground crossing PoE
The trainees applied the knowledge using the tools and evaluated the PoE’s coping capacity, developed risk profiles and crafted a draft Public Health Emergency Contingency Plan (PHECP) for the response to anticipated health emergencies at the PoE and surrounding cross-border communities on both sides of the border. Participants were trained on the methodology for table-top Simulation Exercise (SE) and applied techniques of SE implementation.
The TOT will help experts in preparing Public Health Emergency Contingency Planning (PHECP) to ensure timely response to health emergencies. Among the next steps, IGAD and ECSA-HC will continue to support trainees conduct actual SRA for priority PoE in their countries.
The TOT trainees will also roll out the training at national and sub national level to create more national teams of assessors for scale-up, efficient and sustainable implementation of PoE SRA activities.
While closing the training, Dr Maureen Kamene, the Ag. Director General of the National Public Health Institute, Government of Kenya, said that the training was important owing to the vulnerability situation across our porous borders and gaps in health system capacities at points of entry.
“By creating a network of trainers, we are establishing a ripple effect of knowledge and preparedness that will be felt across national and subnational health systems,” said Dr. Kamene.
The Health Emergency Preparedness, Response and Resilience Program (#HEPRRP), implemented by the IGAD Secretariat in collaboration with the East, Central, and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC), and supported by the World Bank, aims to strengthen preparedness, response, and resilience to health emergencies in the Eastern and Southern Africa (AFE) region.
