Zanzibar, 06/24/2024. The second Regional Workshop started today in Zanzibar as part of the initiative “Creation of a health network in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda” financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. The program aims to improve maternal and child health in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, supporting local health systems in achieving Universal Health Coverage and it is carried out in collaboration with the Ministries of Health of three countries.
The objective of the programme, carried out with the technical support of the Global Health Center of the Tuscany Region, is to network 33 healthcare facilities in the three countries, which will not only benefit from the donation of modern medical equipment, training activities personnel and infrastructural interventions, but will be able to take advantage of the sharing of information, good practices and expertise at a regional level.
The second Regional Workshop of the program focuses on the theme of “Risk management and quality of care for the prevention and control of infections (IPC)” with a particular focus on the prevention and control of the main infections in maternal and child health and sees the participation of 34 health workers who provide maternal and child health services from some of the 33 health facilities involved in the program in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. During the three days of work, participants will have the opportunity to share experiences, good practices and critical issues of their work not only to improve the services provided to pregnant women and newborns but also to align them with the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Global Health Center of the Meyer Hospital in Florence, the technical partner of the initiative, coordinates the Workshop in collaboration with the AICS headquarters in Nairobi. Two Italian medical experts, who arrived in Zanzibar for the occasion, will help moderate the various sessions of the workshop in which participants will have the opportunity to share experiences from their respective countries, and then share their work experiences at hospital companies in Tuscany.
The Director of Prevention Services of the Ministry of Health of the Government of Zanzibar, Dr. Salim Slim, spoke at the initial session of the Regional Workshop. He underlined how the initiative has great practical usefulness, both for the quality of the interventions and for the possibility of networking health systems of various East African countries. Dr Slim highlighted the importance of investments in primary health, both in terms of impact and sustainability, as well as emphasizing the enormous impact of the interventions already realized in the maternal/child health sector. Concerning the theme of the workshop, Dr. Slim emphasized what has been done in Zanzibar towards the eradication of malaria, the notable progress made and the many other needs that require specific and technically valid interventions.
To conclude, Dr Slim thanked AICS, the Global Health Center, the foster CSOs and all the healthcare facilities that joined the initiative, underlining the importance of the spirit of great collaboration that has emerged in this first year of activity and wishing everyone a good continuation.
Foto di gruppo durante i lavori del Secondo Workshop Regionale tenutosi a Zanzibar.
Group photo of the second Regional Workshop of the regional health initiative involving Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda