Project news 3 : Dispatch Consultation mission team 2

JICA HQ dispatched an operational guidance team from January 2 to 9, 2023, to the project, which began in June 2021, to strengthen the early warning response capacity for infectious diseases, including a surveillance expert from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID). The team visited East Kalimantan, one of the newly selected provinces for the project, with a surveillance working team from the Ministry of Health. The team interviewed and discussed the EWARS work environment with local stakeholders to determine what should be added to the project's EWARS training at the district and city level, what additional equipment and materials are needed, and what should be included in the training program in Japan.

Mr. Daisuke Komazawa, Senior Director, Human Development Department, JICA, and Dr. Sunagawa, Director, and Dr. Fukuzumi, FETP Coordinator, Center for Field Epidemic Intelligence, Research and Professional Development (CFEIR),

National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), visited Center for Environmental Health Engineering and Disease Control (BBTKLPP) in Jakarta, the Provincial Health Office of East Kalimantan Province, Samarinda City Health Office and Community Health Center (Puskesmas Trauma Center) in the city, Beriman Hospital (RSUD Beriman), and Local Health Laboratory (Labkesda) in Balikpapan City. The provincial health office personnel have not had the opportunity to receive formal training on EWARS, and there were high expectations from stakeholders to attend training that would result in an accredited certificate of completion. Surveillance personnel at the hospital level were less knowledgeable and experienced in EWARS. And Puskesmas level personnel, even those who are informally employed but young and university educated, have relevant knowledge and are willing to acquire additional knowledge and experience, and are eager to receive training.

During the survey team's stay in Indonesia, they discussed the content of the training program in Japan with members of the　Surveillance Working Team、Directorate Surveillance and Health Quarantine (SKK) of the Directorate General of Disease Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Health, who accompanied the team to the site. Based on the discussions, the team has considered the host institution in Japan, obtained informal consent to conduct the training in Japan in June-July 2023, and prepared a rough draft of the training program. The team also planned to conduct a training program in May in Indonesia for health office personals in the province of East Kalimantan, the project's target province. For the development of a Puskesmas-level training program, a plan was proposed to conduct a more detailed survey of the current situation by utilizing FETP human resources in Japan and Indonesia. As a first step, the need for information exchange and consultation with the CDC, UGM, and other related organizations that helped develop the district and city training programs was discussed.