Capacity Building in the Context of COVID-19 Outbreak in Uganda

By Irene B. Kyamwine, PHFP Fellow

On 21 March, 2020 Uganda, registered the first case of the novel corona virus (SARS-COV 2), virus causing the Corona Virus disease (COVID-19) in a Ugandan returning from Dubai. The new disease (COVID-19) first detected in Wuhan city in December 2019, was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020. Since its discovery, the knowledge on COVID-19 outbreak has been evolving rapidly. The WHO guidance was mainly implementation of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures and surveillance in order to control the pandemic. Therefore, strict adherence to IPC measures including PPE, social distancing, early detection, isolation and management of patients, among others were the measures that would prevent the rapid spread. However, health workers had limited knowledge on management and prevention of this new disease which made them increasingly fearful of contracting it and leading some to abandon suspected cases and flee health facilities. In view of this, Ministry of Health in partnership with various organizations organized trainings for national and regional level trainers of trainees (ToT). These trainers then conducted a series of orientations for District health teams and the district Task Forces and four-day trainings targeting health workers, managers, and other stakeholders in both public and private organizations. The district COVID 19 orientation was carried out in 133 districts across the country. The trainings were in two forms; classroom and online. Classroom sessions were conducted where space allowed for appropriate social distancing. Online sessions were conducted following the lockdown in the country and in areas where space was not sufficient. The training involved both power point presentations and practical sessions including: donning and doffing of PPE, hand washing, and sample collection. Key areas covered during the training included; Epidemiology, case management, surveillance, contact tracing, specimen collection and testing, infection prevention and control, and psychosocial sessions. The trainings were officiated by, the commissioner for Clinical Services at Ministry of Health Uganda. Following these trainings districts developed district response plans for COVID-19, District task forces were activated and trainings were scaled down to lower health facilities. Reporting on COVID-19 activities also, drastically improved from below 7% before the trainings to 71% by 28 April, 2020 the month when the trainings were conducted.