Adaptable Lessons Learnt on Procurement from Deployment to a Deadly Emergency Outbreak: The Case of Sierra Leone during Ebola Outbreak 2015

Background: The WHO has standard operating procedures for procurement, travel and logistics for use at country level. Some of the guidance is waived during public health emergencies of international concern. Practical acumen on using the standards for emergency settings is limited at country level. WHO Zambia was one of the countries that responded to the call by WHO HQ to support the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. This paper aims to document lessons learnt by procurement staffs that were deployed to emergency settings.Methods: Desk review of documents on procurement during emergency settings, terms of reference of the mission, materials on prevention of getting infected by Ebola and general rules governing international deployment were analysed. The staff member was deployed for the duration of eight weeks in 2015 from where experiences gained were reviewed and systematically recorded.Results: Deployment and exposure to an emergency setting was the first such experience to WCO Zambia staff. During the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone there was the “no touch person” practice from inherent profound fear of contracting the deadly disease. While the job description was similar with what was prevailing in nonemergency setting in Zambia, the quantities and implementation speed on assignments on average were more than ten times on emergencies. In that environment the procedure for procurement involved Invitation to Bid and Request for Proposal to interested parties occurring at the same time which is done differently from normal situations where there is first a request for quotations and procurement committee deliberate before making selection. In the Ebola set-up, there is a waiver of the competitive bidding requirements.Discussion: The exposure of WCO staff to emergency setting allowed WCO staff to be more knowledgeable about preparation and award contract using additional procurement methods in compliance with WHO policies as adopted for emergencies.Conclusion: Secondment of staff to a setting of emergencies is beneficial to WCO staff in terms of capacity building and handling similar situations in future. Country Offices are encouraged in future to share human resources when situations dictate

Using E-Learning for Skills Transfer, Motivation and Retention of Health Workers in Zambia

Background: Health system strengthening continues to be a moving target for developing countries with the human resource factor the most critical bottleneck towards universal health coverage.The human resource management cycle revolves around three interdependent factors: production, recruitment, deployment and retention. The most elusive is retention where both monetary and non-monetary reward systems are equally important. The purpose of this is to document establishment of e-learning as a tool for online skills transfer to address retention of health workers in a cost effectively.Methods: This prospective study analyses the process of establishing an e-learning facility in Central Province of Zambia. Visitations of the site in the PEPFAR (US President Emergency Plan for Aids Relief in Africa) sponsored Chainama College of Health Sciences, Kabwe Campus premises and technical inputs and specifications were documented.Results: The Ministry of Health maximized the prevailing thriving partnership in the health sector by allocating accommodation to e-learning using resources from RMNCH Trust Fund with the WHO dedicating technical support for this concept in close liaison with Ministry of Health officials in Central Province. The facility can accommodate 36 students and is earmarked to be a training facility equipped with appropriate equipment and software to cater for the entire spectrum of diseases and conditions in Zambia. This is an institution which can support the human resource cycle of production, recruitment, deployment and retention, an innovation that be scaled up to address national retention needs.Discussion: E-learning has ushered a sustainable modality of skills transfer to many areas including human resources for health. The government has successfully engaged cooperating partners in Zambia to implement this improvision in the health sector. The WHO has played its part in ensuring that the critical health resource for health pillar of health systems is addressed.Conclusion: Zambia health sector is instituting an intervention that can improve retention of health workers using non-financial motivation through sustainable elearning