Accra: Ghana is hosting experts from the West African sub-region in a weeklong workshop aimed at strengthening the region's capacity to manage disease outbreaks and health emergencies through improved risk communication and community engagement strategies. The workshop, held from September 16 to 19, 2025, is attended by health professionals from 15 West African countries, who are sharing best practices and building collaborative networks to improve the region's preparedness for health emergencies.
According to Ghana News Agency, the event is coordinated by the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Western Regional Coordinating Centre in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. The use of a collaborative approach aims to ensure that communication strategies are technically sound, culturally appropriate, and community-driven, enhancing the effectiveness of public health interventions across West Africa.
Mrs. Mabel Kissiwah Asafo, Deputy Director at the Health Promotion Division of the Ghana Health Service, speaking at the opening of the workshop, said the meeting would serve as a launchpad for leveraging best practices across the continent. She noted that in the face of emerging and re-emerging health threats, including Mpox, Ebola, and the cyclical outbreaks of Cholera and Measles, it was important for the region to have a collective response.
Mrs. Asafo emphasized the necessity of coordinated action, shared intelligence, and cross-border solidarity to build resilience and ensure no community is left behind. She highlighted the workshop as a platform to sharpen technical skills, strengthen behavioral insights, and reinforce the ability of health professionals to translate science into trust in managing disease outbreaks and health emergencies.
Dr. Elphas Ojiambo, Partnership Officer at Africa CDC's Western Regional Coordinating Centre, underscored the importance of regional collaboration given West Africa's population of 400 million people and the associated health communication challenges. Dr. Ojiambo emphasized that weakness in any single country's health communication capacity could undermine outbreak response efforts across the entire region, highlighting the interconnected nature of health security in West Africa.
Dr. Adunola Oyegoke, Technical Officer for Planning at Africa CDC Western Regional Coordinating Centre, reiterated the workshop's focus on risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) planning during outbreak response. She said the training prioritizes skills development in collecting, analyzing, and utilizing community feedback and social listening data for evidence-based decision making, including experience-sharing sessions where participants present their approaches to RCCE planning and implementation.
Dr. Oyegoke noted that the focus on community engagement and social listening acknowledges that technical interventions alone are insufficient without community trust and participation. She urged participants to leverage experiences from the training to enhance the region's approach to improving risk communication and community engagement strategies to effectively manage disease outbreaks and health emergencies.
