Staff exchange programme: RKI welcomes first incoming cohort from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Berlin

As part of the staff exchange between the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the first incoming cohort of six Africa CDC delegates spent a three-week long visit at the RKI in March 2023. The delegation was headed by Dr Abdulaziz Mohammed, Head Division of Disease Control and Prevention at Africa CDC, who accompanied the other senior public health experts during the first days.

The host RKI units welcome their exchange guests from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) in March 2023 in front of the RKI headquarters in Berlin (Source: RKI)

The staff exchange is part of the “Developing Global Public Health Leadership” (DG-PHaL) programme which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Health and runs until December 2024. The programme’s overall objective is to develop institutional interlinkages and enable sustainable cooperation and knowledge transfer by networking and strengthening individual competencies. Thus, an annual cohort of twenty participants (ten from each organization) can visit the respective partner institution to focus on their skill-building and networking. The staff exchange started in 2022 with six RKI delegates visiting the Africa CDC in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Africa CDC delegates were received by the then RKI vice-president Prof Lars Schaade at a welcome reception before joining their host units. They engaged in knowledge exchange with staff from various units across RKI and explored opportunities for future collaboration. The stay also included a visit to the RKI emergency operations centre (EOC) and the biosafety level-4 laboratory at RKI (BSL-4 laboratory).

Furthermore, the Africa CDC delegates gained an insight into the role of other major national (and international) actors in the field of (global) public health: At a visit to the German Federal Ministry of Health they were introduced to the German health care system, the ministry’s role, and Germany’s political commitment in the field of global public health. They joined a full-day excursion to the Charité and attended the Global Health Dialogue “What can we do better together in our responses to infectious disease challenges?” where they presented, exchanged and linked up with other public health experts. At the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, the delegation attended the Open House and the Speaker Series “Complexity of Pandemics” focusing on the transdisciplinary character of pandemic forecasting, prevention, preparedness, and response efforts.

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