The East African Community (EAC) in partnership with International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the World Health Organization (WHO), organized this three-day workshop as part of the efforts to deepen regional cooperation in the health sector, to reduce healthcare disparities and enhance cross-border health cooperation in line with the EAC Health Policy. This workshop was a follow-up of the  ‘Regional Meeting to Strengthen Cross border Collaboration in the East African Community,[MM1] co-convened by the EAC Secretariat from 12th-13th May 2022 in Mwanza, United Republic of Tanzania under the Regional project “WASH and Health Promotion sensitization and awareness on COVID-19 and other communicable diseases in the EAC region” implemented in 2021-2022 by IOM and East African Community (EAC) Secretariat and financially and technically supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ).The meeting aimed to identify and address the gaps in strengthening the health system at the border community and reinforce the health security/preparedness and response in accordance with IHR 2005 and develop a roadmap for priority interventions.

PARTICIPANTS

The meeting was attended by Partner states experts from;

• Ministries responsible for EAC Affairs,
• Ministries of Health, 
• Ministries of Infrastructure and Foreign Affairs. 

 

In attendance also included staff from; 

• EAC Secretariat; 
• IOM. 
• WHO; 
• GIZ
• CDC Africa.

 

Prof. Joseph Nyandwi, Director General, the National Institute of Public Health(INSP) chaired the meeting followed by opening remarks by;

• Dr. Azma Simba, Assistant Director Epidemiology and IHR Focal Point, Ministry of Health, United Republic of Tanzania 
• Dr. Qasim Sufi, Chief of Mission, IOM, United Republic of Tanzania,
• Mr. Maximillian Mapunda, Officer Incharge, WHO Country Office, United Republic of Tanzania,
• Dr Eric Nzeyimana, Principal Health Officer and Head of Health Department, EAC secretariat
• Prof. Joseph Nyandwi, Director General, the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) Republic of Burundi.

OBJECTIVES

The workshop aimed to :

• Share lessons from past experiences on cross-border health threats in the context of EAC Regional Integration process;
• Map the regional capacity for cross-border preparedness and response and discuss key regional standards and policies to be developed in accordance with the IHR 2005; 
• Discuss and agree on key actions points for a regional mechanism to enhance cross-border health cooperation; and 
• Develop a five-year regional roadmap as a strategic priority to enhance cross-border health cooperation.  

DISCUSSIONS

Under the leading role of Dr. Eric Nzeyimana, EAC secretariat, and Dr. Michela Martini, IOM Regional Office East and Horn of Africa. The discussion involved presentations by the EAC Secretariat, WHO, IOM, and partner states as follows; working groups to develop the roadmap for priority interventions at cross-borders

Ms. Alison Gichohi, capacity building officer, EAC Secretariat, presented on the EAC experience on cross border health response surveillance which highlighted common regional epidemiological profile among partner states with various diseases causing high morbidity and mortality including infectious diseases such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), Malaria, Cholera, Tuberculosis, among others.

The Presentation is available here:

Dr. Chol Thabo Yur, Heath Emergency Officer WHO, presented on IHR and WHO support towards strengthening PoE capacities to respond to health emergencies of international concern. This presentation underscored the importance of building the capacity of partner States for effective surveillance and response and the importance of crossborder collaboration and regional coordinated response in achieving health security for the region.

The Presentation is available here:

Mr. Marcellino Ramkishun, Immigration, and Border Management Specialist, IOM presented on the integrated response unifying border management and health security to support the implementation of IHR which highlighted IOM’s COVID programming anchored on the IOM’s Health Border and Mobility Management (HBMM) framework and the need for stronger coordination communication between border communities and municipality authorities to provide emergency technical assistance for active health surveillance including health screening, referral, data collection at PoE as well as community Event-Based Surveillance.

The Presentation is available here:

Dr. Aymen Jarboui, Regional Health Programme Officer,IOM presented on the Mwanza crossborder meeting highlighting the common gaps identified across partner states by IHR focal points and key recommendations for operationalization

The presentation is available here:

The EAC partner states presented the status of implementation of the recommendations from the ‘Regional Meeting to strengthen cross-border collaboration in the East African Community” held in Mwanza, United Republic of Tanzania on 12-13^th May 2022, and country-specific cross-border threats and concerns and identified key priorities to inform the development of the proposed roadmap.

The presentation is available here:

The EAC Secretariat also identified four preliminary priorities for the proposed roadmap based on preliminary review of the existing EAC frameworks and Initiatives notable the EAC Health Sector Investment Priority Framework (2018-2028) where the delegates discussed and identified regional level strategic interventions including outcomes, activities and possible stakeholders

The Regional Roadmap is Available here:

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The EAC Secretariat to convene a meeting of the EAC Technical Working Group (TWG) on Communicable and Non-Communicable diseases to review and validate the draft Roadmap for crossborder health programming by 30th October 2022.
2. The EAC secretariat to strengthen the POE services as an integral component of the TWG on Communicable and Non-Communicable diseases.
3. The EAC to strengthen communication awareness and information sharing for cross-border health programming.
4. The EAC partner states to increase resources to support the coordination of health activities at the Points of Entry (PoE).

Detailed Report of the Workshop available here: