EMPHNET held a five-day workshop on applied epidemiology, which it commenced in Amman, Jordan on March 27, 2016.

With aims to enhance its participants’ knowledge and abilities to effectively detect and respond to health threats at the national and regional levels, the workshop served to strengthen epidemiologic capacity within the region.

The event’s opening ceremony was attended by Director of the Jordan Ministry of Health’s Primary Health Care Administration Dr. Bashir Al-Qaseer, and EMPHNET’s Executive Director Dr. Mohannad Al-Nsour, amongst other health professionals.

Speaking at the opening Dr. Bashir Al-Qaseer said, “We acknowledge the efforts of the mid-level public health professionals as their work contributes to major developments seen in the public health field, and it does impact the work of decision makers. The attention granted by EMPHNET to this segment is commendable as this segment is often marginalized. The work done by these professionals is the right wing to all public health activities. Therefore, such workshops should be made a priority within public health agendas, as they serve to create opportunities for capacity building and knowledge sharing. “

From his end, Dr. Al-Nsour reiterated the necessity for conducting such workshops, as this training served to enhance disease surveillance to support the prevention, detection, and response to events resulting from different biological agents. He further added that this is the first workshop conducted by EMPHNET to target mid-level public health professionals, as this segment’s work is of great importance to the advancement of outbreak investigations.

Combining presentations, group activities, and open discussions, the workshop agenda included sessions that highlight key terms in epidemiology, definitions of descriptive epidemiology, activities that highlight the concepts of line listing, and case studies about outbreak investigations. Furthermore, the workshop offered an introduction to surveillance data, a description of the role of laboratories in outbreak investigations, and a discussion on reporting techniques for outbreak investigations, amongst other pressing topics.

A team of experts from EMPHNET and Field Epidemiology Training Programs from Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and Morocco conducted the workshop sessions. To ensure that this workshop is of benefit to a larger attendance base, it was also recognized as one of the first events to be facilitated by EMPHNET in Arabic.

EMPHNET has supported and promoted innovative approaches to meeting the various challenges faced in the region. In addition, EMPHNET is guided by its commitment to change. It acknowledges knowledge sharing opportunities as the way forward. Within this belief, it continues to work to ensure better public health for the communities it operates within.

Interviews from the Event:

Dr. Qahtan Al Salihi
Director of The Iraq Field Epidemiology Training Program (I-FETP)
Ministry of Health- Iraq

As a facilitator in the workshop, Dr. Qahtan Al Salihi asserts that the training has been, by all standards, successful. This has been reflected in the evident interaction of all participants in the workshop. He adds that EMPHNET can draw on this success by conducting similar workshops in Iraq to train the country’s public health professionals in the area of applied epidemiology.

Dr. Asmaa Khattabi
Professor and Researcher
The National School of Public Health- Morocco

Dr. Asmaa Khattabi notes that this workshop targets public health inspectors who, despite being the cornerstone of any outbreak investigation, are not typically deployed to the field and are located at the central health directorates. Dr. Khattabi adds that public health inspectors are in need of such workshops which can train them in areas pertaining to their work: disease surveillance, outbreak investigation, line listing, report writing, and other issues related to applied epidemiology.  She notes that this workshop is of practical value as it employs, in its activities, lessons learned from the field in the respective countries of participants.

Dr. Sahar Shourbaji
Egypt FETP Coordinator
Prevention and Control Division at the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP)- Egypt

Dr. Sahar Shourbaji states that this workshop brings together facilitators and participants from different countries of the region. According to Dr. Shourbaji, this multinational context represents a useful space for the exchange of knowledge and experience. Dr. Shourbaji notes that the activities of the workshop went beyond the limits of a traditional lecture, to include highly interactive exercises in which all participants were involved. She adds that one important aspect of the lecture was introducing participants to line listing, which can assist public health inspectors in collecting data that is important and pertinent to any outbreak they investigate.

Mr. Samy Nourelhoda Saber
Epidemiology and Immunization Inspector- Communicable Disease Department
Prevention and Control Division at MoHP- Egypt

Remarking on the workshop, Mr. Samy Nourelhoda Saber notes that it has been highly interactive from day one. It was different from other training workshops in that regard as it did not simply involve one-sided lecturing. Mr. Saber adds that the workshop helped acquaint him with different concepts in applied epidemiology, which he plans to employ in his area of work.