Participants at the training workshop in a group picture

Empowering Ghana with Event Mobile Application and Strengthening Disease Reporting and Surveillance

In a proactive effort to strengthen disease reporting and surveillance system in Ghana, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) in partnership with the Veterinary Service Directorate (VSD) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) hosted a comprehensive training of trainers workshop on the use and application of FAO’s innovative Event Mobile Application Plus (EMA-i+) in Accra, Ghana. 

As part of FAO's contribution to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded program, the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), FAO's ECTAD introduced EMA-i as a digital disease reporting tool. Following an initial pilot in 2019, the project encountered challenges, including a decline in reporting volume attributed to factors such as user mobility, internet connectivity issues, and insufficient oversight supervision. To overcome these challenges, ECTAD-Ghana conducted a workshop in May 2022  for all regional veterinary officers and selected Frontline ISAVET trainees to institutionalize EMA-i as a reporting tool for the VSD’s disease reporting system.

In early 2023, FAO upgraded the EMA-i and Global Animal Disease Information System (EMPRES-i) systems to an enhanced plus version with new functionalities. To ensure the widespread adoption of this EMA-i+ reporting system for VSD, a refresher training of trainers that covers the new features has become essential.

Event Mobile application (EMA-i) technology has been adopted in Ghana from February 2019 in 21 districts. This innovative adoption represented a significant reinforcement of the national epidemio-surveillance network. EMA-i launching was supported by FAO Ghana with the provision of smartphones and desktop computers including internet connectivity to implement the pilot phase of the EMA- for a period of six months.

The primary goal of this workshop is to provide training as trainers for regional veterinary officers, veterinary data management officers, and wildlife and community animal health workers on the proper use of EMA-i+ and EMPRES-i+. The training focused on equipping trainers with the skills needed to conduct subsequent pieces of training across various regions and districts. Practical exercises will be used to help participants become proficient and competent in using the application, with particular emphasis on the web-based platform (EMPRES-i+), which plays a pivotal role in the disease reporting workflow.

At the opening ceremony, the FAO ECTAD Team Leader for Ghana, Garba Maina Ahmed, said that “ it has become necessary following the upgrade of EMA-i application to a plus version to conduct a Training of Trainers workshop for VSD to have skilled staff to roll out the training in the country to enhance animal disease reporting in real-time’’.

In his opening address, Dr Danso Fenteng, Head of the Epidemiology Unit, representing the Chief Veterinary Officer "briefed the participants about the history of the pilot of the EMA-i application. He elaborated on the benefits of the application and the challenges encountered 

The workshop engaged 45 EMA-i+ users in the field, including regional veterinary officers, data management officers, representatives from the Epidemiology Unit, Accra Veterinary Laboratory, Ghana Health Service, Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, and Community Animal Health Workers.

This workshop is a significant step towards enhancing disease reporting and surveillance in Ghana, aligning with the country's objectives to strengthen public health and protect livelihoods.