Africa’s outbreak preparedness: UNICEF, others to conduct simulation exercise
IN a significant move to enhance Africa’s outbreak preparedness, the World Health Organization (WHO), in partnership with UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP), Médicins sans frontières (MSF), and the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), is set to conduct a large-scale simulation exercise in Ghana from November 11 to 15, 2024.
The exercise will involve health and emergency experts from Ghana and selected African nations to test innovative response systems for managing high-risk infectious disease outbreaks.
The initiative, part of the WHO and WFP-led INITIATE2 project, aims to strengthen regional public health emergency preparedness by introducing advanced rapid-response health facilities. INITIATE2 brings together emergency responders, research institutions, and partner nations to develop and test standardized solutions that improve emergency response and public health resilience.
This includes training responders to deploy and use state-of-the-art facilities specifically designed to contain outbreaks swiftly and prevent the spread of disease.
The simulation will take place at the Ghana Armed Forces’ Critical Care and Emergency Hospital, previously the UN COVID-19 field hospital. This location will serve as the staging ground to test new solutions, including the Infectious Disease Treatment Module (IDTM) and Health Emergency Facility (HEF) kits.
Designed for rapid setup in remote or crisis-affected areas, these facilities allow for immediate patient treatment close to the outbreak source, reducing the risk of spreading infections over long transport distances.
Over 100 participants from more than 20 organizations, along with health authorities from Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda, will engage in a realistic simulation of a Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (VHF) outbreak, focusing on diseases such as Ebola and Marburg. The exercise will allow teams to practice critical patient care, containment, and response coordination.
The primary objectives of the simulation exercise are to strengthen collaboration and coordination among health organizations, emergency response teams, and military support units; train participants on innovative solutions like the IDTM and HEF kits by evaluating their effectiveness in emergency settings; and demonstrate comprehensive case management, simulating full patient care from diagnosis to discharge, with a focus on quality care for survivors and dignified handling for non-survivors.
Through this effort, WHO, UNICEF, WFP/UNHRD, MSF, and the Ghana Armed Forces emphasize their commitment to advancing regional health resilience. The exercise underscores the importance of rapid-deployment facilities in containing outbreaks, supporting a larger vision under INITIATE2-HEF to equip African nations with scalable health infrastructure to respond effectively to public health emergencies.
