UK Selects IOM to Manage Ebola Training Facility in Sierra Leone

GENEVA, Switzerland, November 25, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- IOM Sierra Leone has been awarded a 6-month GBP 4.19 million contract by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) to manage an Ebola Training Academy in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Currently managed by the UK Ministry of Defence, the academy provides a comprehensive 3-day training programme for frontline Ebola practitioners deploying to operate Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs) throughout Sierra Leone.

The training programme, which can graduate over 3,000 health care workers a month, includes modules on the principles of an ETU, donning / removing of personal protective equipment, and cleaning in an ETU. It features a model ETU for practical training.

IOM will manage the academy in close collaboration with the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation and Armed Forces Medical Unit. In six months, management of the facility will be handed over to Sierra Leonean counterparts from COMAH – the College of Medicine and Allied Health Science – as well as specialists from King's College London.

“The academy's aim is to ensure that health workers dealing with this extremely dangerous virus get the best possible training and remain safe,” said Sanusi Savage, head of Office for IOM's Ebola response. “IOM is pleased to be working with DFID to help ensure the safety of these health workers and Sierra Leone's people.”

IOM Sierra Leone has also been awarded a 6-month contract by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for a health and humanitarian border management project at the country's main Lungi International Airport.

The USD 264,000 project will cover training of airport immigration, police and health officials to better identify and respond to suspect Ebola cases, and to protect themselves and others from the spread of the disease through infection prevention and control (IPC) measures.

IOM activities will include the management of 1-day training sessions on health screening standard operating procedures (SOPs) for airport immigration, police and health officials; awareness-raising and technical guidance to airport authorities on SOP implementation; and the training and equipping of 100 airport officials to effectively identify Ebola cases, conduct proper IPC measures and operationalize the SOP.

Added Mr. Sanusi: “These projects can bend the curve of transmission; alleviate the suffering of the people of Sierra Leone and help end the epidemic.”