New Security Beat

It's better to have preparedness upfront. - @deb_malac on the importance of ensuring that personnel and other resources are on the ground to address the problem to prevent health crises.

Public health capacity is integrated into the systems. @deb_malac shared what she noticed when moving Ambassadorship from Liberia to Uganda. She said we need to continue investments and encourage entities to invest and prioritize public health investments.

What lessons can be learned from the Ebola outbreak? @julienabyonga says we need to see the role of communities differently. Communities have played a fundamental role.

Best practices in coordination of the #COVID19 response according to @julienabyonga include: 1. Strong political leadership 2. Strong multisectoral collaboration 3. Whole of government approach in the majority of countries 4. Strong involvement of the private sector

Challenges ahead in coordinating the #COVID19 response from @julienabyonga: 1.Varied engagement in multisectoral platforms 2.Competition for recognition and attribution instead of a coordinated response 3.Weak capacity at the subnational level 4.Varying coordinating structures

Africa requires 2 million #communityhealth workers to ensure sustainable health on the continent. @zizo_man explains the role of community-based health workers in responding to health crises.

Why focus on engaging community-based #health workers in #COVID19 response in Africa? @zizo_man says that they are well-positioned to play important roles in detecting suspected COVID-19 cases and establishing national community health programs to respond to COVID-19.

.@AfricaCDC is engaging with existing community health workers across its member states to address #COVID19, while enabling committed countries to invest in scaling up community #health worker groups.