Written By: Moses Geeply, Grand Gedeh County
Almost 50 General Community Health Volunteers (GCHVs) have completed two days Community Event Base Surveillance training in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County. The training was organized and facilitated by the Women and Children Development Secretarial, (WOCDES) with support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and supervised by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The training workshop held at the Zwedru Youth Confrence building started on February 22 and ended February 23. According to report, the excise targeted GCHVs of clinics in Tchien District.
Speaking during the opening of the session, the WOCDES Project Coordinator, Roosevelt Fopka said the training empowers GCHVs in understanding the community surveillance procedure and how to deal with event base surveillance. Forkpa added that the program will enable GCHVs/CWH identified the different type of communicable diseases for quick transfer and at the same time boost the contact tracing program of the County Health Team.
According to WOCDES Project Coordinator CEBS is an organized and rapid system for collecting information on community event that may be dangerous. He urged participants to demonstrate some level of maturity in their community as they embarked on the job.
Also speaking at the opening ceremony on behalf of Grand Gedeh County Health Team, the Surveillance Officer, Sylvester Toe stressed that the Community Heath Volunteers are to search for priorities diseases and referred such case to the nearby health facility for medication attention.
He said diseases such as polio, acute watery diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, human rabies, and measles as cases that GCHVs must be able to detect and report to the health centers in the county. He also mentioned complications like neonatal and maternal death as serious conditions that they must also monitor in the communities.
The Surveillance Officer for Grand Gedeh County Health Team encouraged Volunteers to display coordination and collaboration in their respective communities if they must meet the project objective.
WHO National Consultant, Madam Mercy D. Blyden challenged the Volunteers to take the opportunity very essential in helping to eradicate Sexual Transmitted Diseases in Liberia. She said the success of the CEBS project depends on the involvement of GCHVs and the community members. Blyden also called on the public to report any unusual or unexplained sickness to the nearby health facility.
