30 September, 2020 (232News)
FREETOWN – The Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Collaboration with ICAP at Columbia University in Sierra Leone has trained and graduated 24 Health Workers in the Second Cohort (Cohort 2) of the advanced Infection Prevention Control (IPC) certificate course.
The course which aims to enhance capacity in IPC for an improved health workforce is a six months course funded and supported by the U.S Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), and implemented collaboratively by ICAP and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.
The graduation of the second cohort took place at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on Friday 25th September. At the ceremony, ICAP Country Representative Dr. Mame Awa Toure described IPC as one of the critical pillars in health system strengthening, and seats at a unique position in the field of patient safety and quality universal health coverage. She described the graduation as one that came at the right time (during the Covid-19 pandemic), and has been able to develop a robust IPC system over the years.
CDC Country Director Dr. Tushar Singh said: “The IPC certificate Course was designed to develop IPC specialists with the required knowledge and skills to advance IPC practice in Sierra Leone.”
Defects in IPC at the health facility level increases the risk of outbreaks, and highly transmissible diseases that can spread within and beyond facilities and boarders says WHO IPC Head Anna Maruta. She commended the huge progress that that the country has made in boosting IPC over the last six years.
The Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation 2 Dr. Amara Jambai in his keynote address declared the IPC course a national program that will go beyond just training. He commended partners for preparing the country for inevitable outbreaks like the Covid-19 pandemic which has been handled professionally so far. He continues saying that the trainings will be followed by a robust supportive supervision to enable graduates to serve as trainers and change agents for IPC across the country.
Fatmata Bintu Kargbo one of the grandaunts described the course as a very good one. She said unlike previous IPC trainings this 6 months’ course is standard and comprehensive. “I acknowledge that we did have knowledge on IPC but it was basic, compared to what we have learnt in the past six month.”
Graduating 24 grandaunts respectively in Cohort 1 and 2 of the advanced IPC certificate course has given Sierra Leone 48 IPC specialists that can serve as change agents in cascading the program at national level. The ceremony ended with sharing of certificate and gifts to the grandaunts.
