COVID-19 app for health workers launched

HEALTH|COVID-19|APP

The Ministry of Health and Community Health Academy-Last Mile Health, in partnership with Makerere University, have launched an e-learning platform to address the knowledge gap in the management of COVID-19.

Speaking during a workshop to approve the contents of the course on the app at Golden Tulip Hotel, the director of clinical and curative services at the health ministry, Dr Charles Olaro, said the online digital platform will provide education and training for health workers on COVID-19 management.

Courses on the App

Some of the courses available on the health ministry Capacity Building app include surveillance, laboratory testing, infection control and prevention, community engagement, case management guidelines, mental health, and psychosocial support.

Olaro said in the future, more topics and content will be provided for health workers in order to address training needs.

"With the health ministry Capacity Building app innovation, we expect that the training of Uganda's health care workforce shall continue undisrupted, as they defend the country at the frontline," Olaro said.

Access to information 

The regional engagement director for East and Southern Africa Community Health Academy-Last Mile Health, Kenneth Nyehoora, said all health workers will be able to access the information in line with their specialities.

He added that they will be required to download the app in order to access relevant content.

"The app will cater for several health workers who need knowledge that they will use to provide services to people in the country. We believe that health workers will be able to utilise the content," he said.

Nyehoora further revealed that they are working with other stakeholders to make sure that they reach out to different health personnel.

Nyehoora said this is a great opportunity for health workers not only in a government setting but also in the private sector to access information.

Dr Hellen Aanyu, a senior consultant pediatrician at Mulago Hospital, said the app is relevant because COVID-19 is a new disease and that health workers need to learn more on how to detect and manage patients who may be having the disease.

She said most of the health workers depended on ongoing physical training so that they can get information.

"This app will be helpful in reaching every health worker wherever they are. Most of the trainings have happened in public settings and this will be very useful to the private sector, where they have not had exposure to the physical training," Aanyu said.

Aanyu has been involved in the management of patients with COVID-19 since it broke out in the country.

Some of the courses on the app include surveillance, laboratory testing, infection control and prevention.