GEEKS: 7 Nigerians Graduate 3rd Cohort

Seven Nigerians are graduating from the 3rd cohort of the United States-supported E-Health fellowship programme: Growing Expertise in E-Health Knowledge and Skills (GEEKS).

The programme is meant for capacity-building and funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it is implemented by the Africa Field Epidemiology Network and the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria.

The cohort included seven fellows from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

Since its inception, over 50 Nigerians have been trained in data management, triangulation, interpretation, communication, and research writing.

A statement by the U.S. Embassy said two different dashboards were developed in the just-completed third cohort.

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The statement reads: “During the programme, fellows, with oversight from 10 mentors, developed a Data Analysis and Visualisation Tool for Nigeria’s District Health Information Software 2 dashboard to show linkages between adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) and immunisations received to help facilitate the fast-tracking of responses to any adverse events following immunisation.

“The fellows also developed a routine immunisation and vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD) dashboard for Nigeria’s Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System to link immunisation coverage with outbreaks. Both dashboards will help inform and improve Nigeria’s public health programming and response efforts.”

Recruitment is already on for the fourth cohort of government workers from NPHCDA, NAFDAC, NCDC, and the Federal Ministry of Health.

The training and mentorship sessions will take place from May 2023 to April 2024 and will focus on building the capacity of subnational-level government workers.

The GEEKS fellowship also said, “reinforces the U.S. government’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s federal and states’ ministries of health in the development, implementation, and evaluation of disease response efforts and programmes that contribute to a strengthened public health infrastructure.”