Meeting in support of Ugandan roadmap towards a national Emergency Medical Team

From 28 to 30 November 2023, representatives of the German relief organisation Malteser International (MI) and the Ugandan Ministry of Health (MoH) met for a workshop in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Hosted by the Robert Koch Institute in the framework of the project “Emergency Medical Teams Twinning, Training, Transfer of Knowledge” (EMT TTT), the aim of the meeting was to jointly create an activity plan in support of the development of a national Emergency Medical Team (EMT) by the Ugandan Ministry of Health. EMTs are important medical surge capacities in response to health emergencies, providing direct clinical care to affected populations. Uganda aims not only to establish a national “EMT Type 1” which is equivalent to a primary health care facility, but also to capacitate it for infectious disease response.

The workshop participants at the EMT warehouse of Malteser International. Photo: RKI

The EMT partnership between Malteser International and the Ministry of Health of Uganda is based on the Twinning concept of the World Health Organization (WHO). Twinning pairs WHO-classified EMTs with international organisations or governmental institutions that are in the process of establishing or classifying an EMT, thus facilitating peer-to-peer support and mutual learning. Since 2020, the team of the German National Focal Point for Emergency Medical Teams (EMT NFP), based at RKI unit ZIG 3, has been supporting Twinning partnerships under the umbrella of the Global Health Protection Programme (GHPP), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Health. Capacity development on systems and network levels cannot be reached without a multi-stakeholder engagement. Therefore, representatives from the WHO Country Office Uganda, the WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) also joined the Frankfurt meeting as part of the Twinning process.

Hands-on development of the EMT Twinning activity plan for 2024–2025. Photo: RKI

The Ugandan Ministry of Health shared their EMT roadmap vision while WHO AFRO presenting their 10-steps Guidance for building National EMTs in the region. The Malteser International team not only explained the set-up of their classified EMT, but also hosted a site visit at their EMT warehouse near the city of Wiesbaden to have a closer hands-on look at their logistical arrangement. “What are the scenarios for an EMT setup responding to infectious diseases?” was another central topic of discussions and decision making during the workshop. Finally, in a room filled with ideas and colourful cards, an EMT Twinning activity plan was jointly drawn for 2024 into 2025. The project members agreed to address activities supporting the development of the Ugandan EMT’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) and the development and piloting of a training on infection prevention and control (IPC) in the EMT context.

Personal exchange at the warehouse of the German relief organisation Malteser International. Photo: RKI

Because partnerships are also about cultures, the evenings were used by the workshop attendees to explore together the large Christmas markets in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden. In this way, along the first snow of the season, the guests from the African continent experienced an authentic piece of German culture. How the implementation of the project will manifest from a plan into reality? The answer will unfold over the coming two years through the joint efforts of all project partners.

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