Category: East Africa

CDC Innovations: Real-Time Data Strengthens Uganda’s Efforts to End Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission

PMTCT infant

Identifying opportunities to improve global health sometimes requires creative thinking and new collaborations. In Uganda, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) exemplified this approach in developing a strategy to use the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Kampala – established with CDC’s assistance in 2013 – to help eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission (MTCT). “The Read More >

Posted on by Betty Kagoro and Erik Friedly, CDC-UgandaTags , ,

A Consequence of Conflict: The Spread of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis

For more than 20 years, Kenya has been providing asylum to people fleeing civil war and conflict from Somalia. Many first reach Dadaab refugee camp, located in Garissa County, Kenya, about 50 miles from the Somali border where the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and partners provide humanitarian relief and protection assistance. In Read More >

Posted on by Nadine SunderlandTags , , , , ,

2014: A pivotal year for the HIV response in Malawi

How we refined and refocused programs using a data-driven approach The appointment of Dr. Deborah Birx as the new Global AIDS Coordinator in May 2014 heralded an enormous change in the PEPFAR world:  Within the span of a few weeks, the focus changed from the newly-cemented PEPFAR vocabulary around ‘sustainability’ and ‘country ownership’ to language Read More >

Posted on by Blog Administrator3 CommentsTags , , , ,

Ebola Requires the World’s United Action

White House

This blog is cross-posted on the White House website. The nations of the world, along with key international organizations, gather at the White House today to advance a Global Health Security Agenda that will help keep the world safe from infectious disease threats. This meeting is a critical opportunity to increase international commitment and, more Read More >

Posted on by Dr. Tom Frieden, Director of CDC1 CommentTags , , , ,

Strengthening Vaccination Systems – how it STARTs

On the road to Bukwo District (photo courtesy of George Momanyi)

George Momanyi, a public health nurse from Kenya, has twice served as a consultant with CDC’s Strengthening Technical Assistance for Routine Immunization Training (START) project in Uganda.  START, funded through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, provides mentoring and on-the-job training to district-level immunization officers and service providers in areas with high Read More >

Posted on by George Momanyi, Public Health Nurse, START Consultant8 CommentsTags , , , ,

Public Health Informatics in Action in Malawi: Making life easier for healthcare workers and patients while improving quality through an innovative national Electronic Medical Record System

Instituting an Electronic Medical Record System reduces the need to manage and store growing volumes of patient charts, a major challenge in resource-limited settings.

Keeping track of even one patient undergoing treatment for HIV/AIDS can be complicated enough. Doing it for over 472,865 patients when you’re a low income country coping with high demand and a sputtering economy magnifies the complexity. Which is why Malawi’s story – and its solution – is attracting attention and praise. It’s a story Read More >

Posted on by Denise Giles, M.P.H., Health Scientist, CDC-MalawiTags , , , , , ,

FETP Work in South Sudan Benefits the Whole World

I’ve been with the Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) for 2.5 years now, where I am currently the resident advisor (RA) in South Sudan. My epidemiology training has provided me with the opportunity to gain a wide variety of experiences; prior to joining FETP, I served as an epidemiologist with Médecins Sans Frontières-Switzerland (MSF-CH), working Read More >

Posted on by James Ransom, PhD, MPH, CDC Field Epidemiology Training Program Branch1 CommentTags , , , , , , ,