Centre for Health Solutions – Kenya, Chief Executive Officer, Dr Paul Wekesa (seated on the first row, second left) pose for photo with the facilitators and participants of the 10th Principles of TB and Prevention: Translating Knowledge into Action training from The UNION, The National TB Program and the training observers from Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique at Voyager Beach Resort, Mombasa on June 30, 2019.
Centre for Health Solutions – Kenya through the USAID Kenya funded Tuberculosis Accelerated Response and Care II (TB ARC II) activity in partnership with the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The UNION) has begun a one week training on the Principles of TB and Prevention: Translating Knowledge into Action for 33 program officers from the Ministry of Health – National Tuberculosis , Leprosy and Lung Disease Program and 2 program officers from AMREF Health Africa from June 30 to July 6, 2019 at Voyager Beach Resort, Mombasa, Kenya.
Among the participants are three international observers from the National TB Programs from Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique who are interested in replicating this in-country training in their countries.
The training is aimed at familiarising the participants with TB epidemiology both globally and in Kenya, the roles and responsibilities of the national TB program with focus on data driven technical assistance, strengthening recording and reporting in TB control, and how data can be used to strengthen TB patient and program performance at all levels of health services as well as learn the basics of data-driven support supervision and technical assistance.
Speaking at the training, the Head of the National TB program, Dr Maureen Kamene, noted that the training was a good learning opportunity for the participants to strengthen their technical expertise.
“From this training you will now be able to know more about what TB is and gain technical knowledge to review and query TB data for action,” said Dr. Kamene.
The TB ARC II Chief of Party Dr Brenda Mungai also noted that the training was important in equipping the participants with skills and knowledge to achieve the END TB strategy indicators, focusing on case detection, drug sensitive TB coverage, Isoniazid Preventive Therapy (IPT) for under 5 years, and to find the missing cases.
“To achieve the END TB strategy and find the missing cases, there is a need for a high-quality training on use of data to guide planning, supervision and programming at sub-national level.A practical and impactful training that also helps identify local areas and populations to be priorities for interventions hence Principles of Management in Tuberculosis Care and Prevention training in Kenya,” Dr. Brenda said.
This is the 10th training of The UNION’s, Tuberculosis Care and Prevention training in Kenya. The past trainings which have involved County and Sub County Coordinators from the various counties have been sustainable and cost efficient, with the engagement of local trainers drawn from the counties.
“Today, we are really proud that with little resources we have been able to train over 300 TB Coordinators at the county and sub county level since the inception of this training in 2016,” said Dr Paul Wekesa – Chief Executive Officer, CHS.
County and sub-county TB coordinators are key in the use of subnational data for local planning and programming at county level. They ensure quality of care for patients, act as the link between health care workers, patients and national level, visit facilities monthly, and use the TIBU surveillance system for supervision and data collection.
Kenya remains a high burden TB country, with TB being the 4th cause of death among infectious diseases. The country has 4,355 TB treatment centres, 2,409 microscopy sites and 189 GeneXpert sites in government facilities.
TB ARC II activity is assisting the National TB program reduce this burden by partnering with The Union, an international scientific organisation, and leader in the field of TB since 1920. The Union have developed a tailor-made, innovative training based on the International ‘Principles in TB Care and Prevention: Translating Knowledge to Action’ course which has run for over 20 years. The training targets county TB staff and was informed by evidence from the TB prevalence survey of 2017 and capacity gaps of TB staff. The national-level TB team is receiving this tailor-made training to strengthen their stewardship role in policy development and technical assistance in the country.
