Amref Health Africa, in collaboration with Mastercard Foundation, is set to implement a one-year programme to train 33,104 health care providers and 31,280 front line community health volunteers to identify, treat, and manage Covid-19 cases.
Development Diaries gathered that Mastercard Foundation has committed approximately $1.8 million to the programme through its Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience Programme.
Country Director at Amref Health Africa in Kenya, Dr Meshack Ndirangu, said, ‘During this pandemic, partnerships have proven to be essential, particularly in equipping health care personnel and strengthening diverse institutions in the front line against the social and economic aftermath of this disease.
‘We will work with the Mastercard Foundation to expand community surveillance and testing, while equipping more health workers and communities with information on the disease’.
It was learnt that the programme will harness the capacity of the Amref Central Laboratory to provide additional capacity following the Ministry of Health’s call for support in handling the surge in Covid-19 cases.
It will also leverage on Amref’s existing technological infrastructure, relationships with the health ministry, and existing technology partnerships to rapidly roll out training for laboratory technologists from the selected GeneXpert sites to start testing for Covid-19.
Those who will be trained include 47 county medical laboratory coordinators, 58 sub-county medical laboratory coordinators, and 520 laboratory staff from the 57 GeneXpert sites.
The Regional Head, Eastern and Southern Africa, at the Mastercard Foundation, Daniel Hailu, said, ‘A key priority of Mastercard Foundation’s Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience Programme is to strengthen the public health response across the continent’.
Source: Mastercard Foundation
Photo source: USAID Ethiopia
