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Global Health Security Agenda in Kenya

I-TECH Kenya’s Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA)-funded programs aim to advance the GHSA goals of preventing , detecting, and responding to disease threats to health security.

For the past 8 years, I-TECH Kenya has had a cooperative agreement with US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to work closely with the Kenya Ministry of Health (MOH) on multiple projects related to health security. The key objectives of these activities are preventing and reducing the likelihood of disease outbreaks, improving the efficiency and accuracy of the detection of communicable diseases, strengthening surveillance capacity and national and county levels for a rapid and effective response, enhancing Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practices to prevent the emergence and spread of pathogens and antimicrobial resistant bacteria.

Prevention

Use IPC practices to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and other microbial threats:

  • Building capacity for IPC in health care facilities is a critical part of disease outbreak and AMR preparedness and prevention. In Kenya, I-TECH has partners with the CDC National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Disease and Kenya MOH to support two model hospitals in developing capacity for quality improvement measures for strengthening evidence-based IPC practices, infrastructure, and tools including hand hygiene, waste management, injection safety, surgical site infections, and antimicrobial stewardship. As part of this IPC work, I-TECH created and piloted e-learning modules for IPC. The modules aim to build clinical skills and technical knowledge in infection prevention and control and antimicrobial stewardship among health care workers in low-resource settings, and have now been adopted by WHO.
  • With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, I-TECH Kenya was able to play a leadership role in the country in assessing and improving facility readiness at the national and local level to handle COVID-19 cases and maintain the health care workforce.
  • Current IPC activity is focused on surveillance for surgical site infections, an important cause of hospital acquired infections (HAIs).

Disease Prevention through Immunization Program Strengthening:

  • I-TECH collaborated with the Kenya MOH, CDC Global Health Protection Division, and the CDC Global Immunization Division, to build and roll out an online mobile platform for capturing immunization data at the point of care.

Detection

Laboratory Information Systems Strengthening:

  • In Kenya, I-TECH collaborated with the MOH and National Public Health Laboratory Services to enhance and strengthen laboratory information systems at the facility and national levels to improve timeliness and efficiency of testing and reporting results, specifically for AMR testing.

Response

Disease Surveillance and Response:

  • I-TECH supports the Kenya MOH Surveillance Unit in the rollout of trainings for health care workers to routinely and consistently use the real-time surveillance reporting system in Kenya.

Best Practices

To address the UNAIDS Sustainable Development Goals for elimination of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases by 2030, and the PEPFAR 3.0 goals, I-TECH leverages the technical expertise of its universities and partners, the broad experience of its funders, and best practices from 15 years of implementing programs.

 

Transition & Sustainability

The International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH) works in partnership with host country governments, universities, professional associations, non-governmental organizations, private sector groups and funding agencies to strengthen local capacity and build sustainable health systems.

I-TECH follows a partnership model that guides the provision of technical services and technical assistance toward local ownership and sustainability, creating projects and programs that can be readily transitioned into national systems.

Based at the University of Washington, I-TECH draws upon a strong global network of public health professionals. The approach described in this document is customized in each country to respond to local needs and priorities. In addition, each I-TECH country office team aligns the model with the unique Partnership Framework Implementation Plans of the partner host government.

1. IDENTIFY NEEDS in consultation with host country governments

I-TECH works with host country governments to assess existing health systems and identify specific areas where the delivery of health care could be improved. This early collaboration helps to ensure that technical assistance accurately reflects the country’s specific health strategies and priorities.

2. STRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS that integrate projects into existing systems

In each partnership, I-TECH develops roles, responsibilities, and timelines based on a long-term vision of integrating projects into existing national systems. As part of this vision, I-TECH recognizes and leverages the strengths and resources of national systems, building on and maximizing these efficiencies. The partnerships that emerge are attuned to the needs, realities, and structure of host country systems. Thus, they build and maintain lasting capacity within host country systems, maximize cost-effectiveness, and produce projects that can be more readily scaled up to meet national goals.

3. SECURE TECHNICAL RESOURCES from affiliated universities, partners, and the I-TECH network

As a center based at the University of Washington, I-TECH has direct access to a wide variety of technical specialists. In addition, I-TECH draws upon a robust global network of locally based public health professionals. These specialists provide a wide range of technical expertise to meet project needs.

4. PROVIDE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND SERVICES tailored to actual needs and resources

I-TECH is committed to technical services and technical assistance approaches that build upon and support the existing strengths of local health systems. In addition, I-TECH prioritizes the use of local and regional expertise, an approach that builds the capacity of local experts to meet locally determined needs.

5. MONITOR PERFORMANCE; evaluate achievement of objectives and measure outcomes

I-TECH implements projects within a quality improvement framework designed to track progress in institutional capacity building and guide successful implementation. Using the framework, implementers monitor the progress of each project against specific benchmarks of success; for example, the progressive transfer of skills and capacity to local institutions. This methodology ensures that objectives are met and provides data to adjust approaches as projects evolve.

6. TRANSITION PROJECT into national systems to ensure sustainability

The ultimate goal of I-TECH’s partnership model is to improve health outcomes by strengthening local capacity and building sustainable health systems. I-TECH’s technical services and technical assistance are tailored from the initial planning stage to produce projects that can be successfully absorbed into national systems within mutually determined and realistic timeframes. Recognizing that a successful transition takes time, I-TECH offers transition support in a variety of technical areas including quality improvement and grant management.

HIV and STI Prevention

Program Highlights

HIS Leadership and Governance in Kenya
As a key member of the Kenya electronic medical record (EMR) system technical working group, I-TECH works to implement and standardize the EMR systems used in the management of national HIV and AIDS care and treatment data. Similar efforts have focused on ensuring that different electronic systems can communicate with ...
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HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in Ukraine
The Government of Ukraine prioritized pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as part of combination prevention for HIV in 2019.1 Since 2020, I-TECH has focused its programmatic efforts in Ukraine on improving PrEP services uptake and strengthening PrEP delivery at selected stat healthcare facilities ...
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Human Resources for Health in Mozambique
I-TECH’s long engagement with clinician education in Mozambique includes support for improvements to the national undergraduate (“pre-service”) curriculum for laboratory technicians (Técnicos Medio de Laboratório) to make the content more current and reflect the health care priorities of the country, including advances in HIV diagnostics and treatment monitoring. The curriculum ...
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Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention in Namibia
I-TECH began supporting the implementation of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as part of Namibia’s combination HIV prevention strategy in 2017 ...
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Quality Improvement

I-TECH’s quality improvement approach emphasizes ongoing assessments of program aims and operations. Country projects apply continuous quality improvement (CQI) strategies targeting both programmatic and management activities. Small-scale, practical Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles are used to construct improvement goals, test proposed changes, and implement adjustments, leading to increased quality of operations, service delivery, and care.

Program Highlights

Improving Laboratory Quality in Cambodia
I-TECH’s laboratory program began in Cambodia in 2013 with the goal to improve operations and regional biosurveillance and biosecurity through improved laboratory quality assurance and management practices. In collaboration with the Cambodian Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ...
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Nursing Efficiency and Task-Sharing in Tanzania
I-TECH Tanzania led the development of the task-sharing policy guidelines for Health Sector Services approved in 2016 as well as the policy’s operational plan. While task-sharing is a widely known HIV service delivery efficiency strategy, still there is continues gaps between national strategies and actual implementation at the site-level [1,2] ...
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Formulating Guidelines and Operating Procedures in India
I-TECH India PL is part of various national ART and testing guideline groups of NACO in India, including Journey of ART Programme in India; HTS Guidelines; ART Guidelines for HIV-Infected Adults and Adolescents, May 2013; National Guidelines on Second-line and Alternative First-line ART For Adults and Adolescents, May 2013; Operational ...
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Enhancement of Health Information Systems and Data Quality in India
I-TECH India PL has provided national, state, and facility level technical assistance for improving quality, analysis and presentation of ART program data; developed innovative tools for tracking program progress based on data analysis of selected indicators over a period of time and submitted for national scale-up; and provided technical mentoring ...
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Human Resources for Health

The effective diagnosis, care, and treatment of infectious diseases require a skilled and motivated health care workforce, and sustainable systems to educate and train those workers. I-TECH uses a systemic approach to build the skills and knowledge of, and foster attitude changes in, health care staff and those who train and educate them.

The following model outlines I-TECH’s human resources for health-based approach to achieving comprehensive patient-centered care. Each component of the model, including a strong enabling environment, supports an optimized health workforce as the foundation of an effective service delivery system.

Program Highlights

Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) in Tanzania
For Tanzania to meet a WHO-specified target of one or more epidemiologists per 200,000 population [1] it will require an additional 250 epidemiologists who are well-trained and geographically distributed in all regions of the country. To help address this gap, I-TECH, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and ...
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Field Epidemiology Training Program in Malawi
The Frontline Field Epidemiology Training Program (Frontline FETP) enhances the capacity of HIV and AIDS surveillance and strengthens health systems. The program contributes to a sustainable response to HIV by training health professionals in basic field epidemiology that can support responsiveness to HIV surveillance needs.  ...
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Global Health Security Agenda in Kenya
I-TECH Kenya’s Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA)-funded programs aim to advance the GHSA goals of preventing , detecting, and responding to disease threats to health security. For the past 8 years, I-TECH Kenya has had a cooperative agreement with US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to work closely ...
Read More
Health Information Systems in Haiti
Electronic medical record (EMR) systems have the capacity to improve clinical decision making and quality of care at site level but can also be leveraged to make data-driven, population-level public health decisions. At the request of the MSPP ...
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e-Learning/Distance Learning

I-TECH’s distance learning and e-learning projects provide opportunities for health care professionals in resource-limited settings to gain knowledge and skills while minimizing their need to leave the workplace.

I-TECH distance learning projects typically have four goals:

  1. Increase the capacity of health care workers in resource-limited settings to deliver high quality care and treatment while allowing them to remain in their workplaces to provide services at their sites.
  2. Build the capacity of ministries of health and governmental institutions to use learning technologies and design blended learning, e-learning, and distance learning programs for health care workforce development.
  3. In collaboration with the UW Department of Global Health’s E-Learning Program (eDGH), provide technical assistance in effectively using e-learning, blended learning, and distance learning for health care workforce development.

Examples of I-TECH’s e-learning products are available in eDGH’s E-Learning Library.

Program Highlights

Global Health Security Agenda in Kenya
I-TECH Kenya’s Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA)-funded programs aim to advance the GHSA goals of preventing , detecting, and responding to disease threats to health security. For the past 8 years, I-TECH Kenya has had a cooperative agreement with US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to work closely ...
Read More
HIV ECHO Tele-Mentoring in the Caribbean
I-TECH facilitates an HIV ECHO® program, a distance-based tele-mentoring program for providers and clinics across the region. Weekly sessions provide access to brief HIV clinical updates along with an opportunity to present and receive consultation on challenging or unusual clinical care issues from a team of multi-cadre HIV experts as ...
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Human Resources for Health in Ukraine
A key focus for I-TECH in Ukraine is strengthening the capacity of local partners to develop and deliver high-quality clinical trainings and expand the supply of skilled health care workers ...
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Improving HIV Care and Treatment across the Caribbean
I-TECH supports a variety of activities aimed at improving HIV care and treatment in the Caribbean region, such as on-site clinical mentoring, development of training curricula, and providing clinical support materials to improve care and treatment for HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean region ...
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Global Health Security

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of strong national disease surveillance systems that can detect disease threats in a timely fashion and provide actionable information for public health action. I-TECH focuses on preventing the likelihood of disease outbreaks, improving the efficiency and accuracy of the detection of communicable diseases, strengthening surveillance capacity for rapid and effective responses, and enhancing infection prevention and control practices to prevent the emergence and spread of pathogens and antimicrobial resistant bacteria.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, I-TECH provided technical assistance on the prevention and control of COVID-19 that ranges from training healthcare workers and facilities in infection prevention and control best practices to supporting the development of national policies and standard operating procedures. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, I-TECH has worked with Ministries of Health and other local stakeholders to ensure that laboratories, health facilities, clinics, and providers are being trained in and implementing procedures to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19.

Program Highlights

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Kenya

Since 2005, I-TECH has drawn on expertise from the University of Washington and the University of California, San Francisco, to support the Ministry of Health (MOH) in advancing priorities in the areas of health information systems (HIS), HIS leadership and governance, Global Health Security (GHSA), and evidence-based Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practices.

I-TECH Kenya’s programs aim to improve the quality of patient care and enable health care facilities to meet their health information, data collection, and reporting needs. I-TECH Kenya’s GHSA funded programs aim to advance the Global Health Security Agenda through strengthening information systems and reporting, and improving IPC in health care facilities.

In all efforts, I-TECH Kenya works closely with the MOH and local partners to develop and implement programs that can be successfully transitioned to local ownership, ensuring sustainable progress toward Kenya’s long-term health goals.

Program Highlights

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Health Information Systems

I-TECH’s Health Information Systems Team lies within the Health Systems Strengthening division. The team has significant capacity in the rapidly expanding field of Health Information Systems for resource-limited clinical settings. I-TECH develops and deploys systems and provides technical assistance and training on electronic medical records, laboratory information management, disease surveillance, national eHealth architecture design, national standards for data transfer and system interoperability, and data use for improved clinical service delivery.

Program Highlights

Health Information Systems in Kenya
In 2012, I-TECH designed and developed an electronic medical records (EMR) system, KenyaEMR, to support the care and treatment of HIV/AIDS. KenyaEMR is built on the OpenMRS platform. I-TECH supported the implementation of KenyaEMR in over 300 health facilities throughout Kenya—one of the largest open source EMR rollouts in Africa ...
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HIS Leadership and Governance in Kenya
As a key member of the Kenya electronic medical record (EMR) system technical working group, I-TECH works to implement and standardize the EMR systems used in the management of national HIV and AIDS care and treatment data. Similar efforts have focused on ensuring that different electronic systems can communicate with ...
Read More
HIS Strategic Planning in Cameroon
National strategies, policies, and governance define the implementation environment for health information systems (HIS) and are recognized as a foundational building block for health system goals, including universal health coverage and control of HIV and other infectious diseases. I-TECH is supporting Cameroon’s Ministry of Health (MOH) to develop a national ...
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Innovative Training Models in Tanzania
I-TECH Tanzania has implemented many pre- and in-service training initiatives and materials, as well as adopted TrainSMART ...
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