Ethiopia – A Ugandan Ministry of Health official, Dr. Richard Kabanda has been appointed as the chair of the newly constituted “Africa Continental Community Health Systems Strengthening Coordination Technical Working Group” that is under Africa Centres for Disease Control (CDC).
His appointment was announced during the 2nd High Level Meeting on Community Health Workforce in Africa organized by African Union in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, from 8th – 10th November 2023.
This high level meeting brought together over 50 member states in Africa with representation of key Partners that support Community Health Systems Strengthening.
This Technical Working Group is mandated to advocate and push African member states/countries to prioritize Community Based Health Interventions to enable reduce the current preventable disease burden in many African countries through delivery of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention interventions.
One of the key areas of focus is the Institutionalization of Community Health Workers in all countries to ensure training, recruitment and remuneration.
Other members appointed to this Technical Committee include: Dr Douaa Saleh from Egypt who will be responsible for Policies, Strategies and SOPs; Dr. Adjoba Francoise Kadja from Cote d’Ivoire; Dr. Olasford Wiah from Liberia. Others include members representing UNICEF, IFRC, Africa CDC and IFF.
Dr. Richard Kabanda currently serves as the Head of Health Promotion department at Ministry of Health.
He was previously a Co-chair for the Africa Public Health Risk Communication and Community Engagement Community of Practice in Africa 2021 to July 2023 under Africa CDC.
