Enhancing Public Health Surveillance
Improving the quality and use of surveillance data to better respond to public health threats and emergencies.
Data-Driven Decision Making
We prioritize the use of data for informed decision-making, training public health workers
Hands-On Field Experience
Our program emphasizes practical, field-based training,
Global Standards of Excellence
Aligned with the CDC’s global standards, our training programs are designed to expertise.
Comprehensive Curriculum
Our curriculum covers essential competency domainsensuring well-rounded expertise for every participant.
AFENET Sierra Leone
The African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) is a not-for-profit networking and service organization dedicated to collaborating closely with Ministries of Health (MoHs) and various partners to enhance public health systems, thereby contributing to both continental and global health security. This aligns with our mission to work towards achieving a healthier Africa.
AFENET commenced operations in Sierra Leone in 2016, working in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS). This collaboration was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) to establish the Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP). The primary objective of the FETP was to build the capacity of public health personnel in Sierra Leone to effectively apply epidemiological skills in preventing, detecting, and responding to public health emergencies.
In 2018, AFENET began supporting the MoHS in the implementation and enhancement of electronic case-based surveillance system (eCBDS). This initiative aimed to transition the existing paper-based surveillance system into an electronic format, thereby modernizing and improving surveillance capabilities within Sierra Leone’s public health sector.
STRATEGIC Objectives
- Strengthen public health surveillance, emergency preparedness, response, and recovery
- Strengthen public health laboratory systems
- Promote universal health coverage (UHC)
- Advance the One Health approach and climate change mitigation
- Promote public health research , innovation, publication and networking
What We do
Train Public Health Professionals
We provide rigorous training to public health workers, equipping them with the skills needed to detect, investigate, control, and prevent public health threats effectively.
Enhance Surveillance Systems
Our programs strengthen public health surveillance systems, ensuring timely and accurate data collection, analysis, and reporting to monitor and respond to health issues.”
Conduct Field Investigations
We lead and support field investigations during outbreaks, applying epidemiological methods to identify causes, track spread, and implement control measures.
Promote Data Utilization
We foster a culture of data-driven decision-making, encouraging the use of surveillance and investigation data to inform public health policies and actions.
Curriculum Objectives
The standard curriculum for FETP-Intermediate focuses on four competency domains — public health surveillance, field investigation, epidemiologic methods, and scientific communication. The learning outcomes for each domain are as follows:
- Public Health Surveillance
- Summarize data from a surveillance system and develop a report for external distribution
- Evaluate a surveillance system
- Conduct an outbreak investigation using descriptive epidemiology
- Design, conduct, analyze, and interpret data from a descriptive epidemiologic study
- Produce an epidemiologic report (surveillance report and outbreak investigation report) for external distribution
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