The Covid-19 pandemic is an international public health emergency and a dramatic illustration of the increasing emergence of new infectious diseases. Following numerous health crises, including the Ebola virus disease crisis, Covid, through its scale and rapid spread, has confirmed the importance of concerted, coherent and multisectoral global action. In a context of patchy, developing and sometimes contradictory knowledge, it is essential to share interdisciplinary information and experience and take into account the situations and health systems in partner countries to ensure that there is a continuity in the Covid-19 response between emergency and development, in line with France’s global health strategy.
For this reason and in response to the requests of professionals and organisations, back in late March 2020, Expertise France set up a technical platform dedicated to the Covid-19 health response.
As an interdisciplinary mechanism based on information-sharing and networking, this “EF Covid-Health” platform is a resource to support the Covid response in Africa. It is building the technical capacities of decision-makers in partner African countries by promoting and supporting the French expertise in place in the partner countries, while helping Team France and Team Europe target their assistance against the pandemic.
For further reading: Addressing the COVID-19 crisis in Africa: Expertise France launches a Technical Assistance Platform
Objective: coordinate health emergency and development
The “EF Covid-Health” platform is an innovative mechanism that compares the needs of partner countries, the advancement of knowledge about Covid-19 and the actions of Team France and its partners. The objective of all this is to strengthen the coherence and effectiveness of the response to the health crisis. This provides an inclusive and swift response that can be mobilised in the short term and capitalises on the expertise in strengthening health systems of French technical assistance.
The platform more specifically aims to:
1. Through focal points on the ground, provide the health authorities in partner countries and operators from Team France with relevant and verified information about Covid-19 and the management of the health crisis;
2. Rapidly mobilise available French expertise, on the ground and remotely, in order to advise partner countries on the management of the Covid crisis.
This action is coordinating the health emergency and development by providing support while ensuring consistency between the International Health Regulations (IHR) and health systems strengthening. By building expertise in health crisis management and supporting public health decision-makers in partner countries, the platform is making it possible to overcome or avoid a slow and strictly humanitarian response to the Covid crisis. Indeed, this mechanism provides swift support to national authorities, maintaining the governance and credibility of the national health system whose recovery will be facilitated.
Furthermore, it strengthens the credibility of the development expertise on the ground, by allowing it to provide relevant support to the emergency response. This platform therefore meets the objectives of France’s Global Health Strategy for 2017-2021 and is fully in line with AFD Group’s Health Security/Health in Common Initiative by proposing an operational health component at a time of crisis.
How does the platform work?
The platform includes: a team of health experts coordinated from Paris; technical assistants deployed to the health authorities in partner countries (focal points) and a documentary base.
Technical and operational coordination team
The technical and operational coordination team organises the platform’s activities and manages the quality control for all the technical and scientific production offered by the platform, in the documentary base and with its advisory and training activities.
It is supported by an interdisciplinary team of reference experts: public health systems, developmental health, infection prevention and control (IPC), treatment of cases, pharmacy and medical supplies, health security, laboratory monitoring and tests, access to healthcare, health economics.
Furthermore, this team can rely on privileged partnerships established by Expertise France, including with the AP-HP Paris Hospital Administration and network of Instituts Pasteur.
This team thereby provides a technical assistance resource for the members of Team France and Team Europe for the adaptation of their strategies to respond to the pandemic.
Interdisciplinary documentary base
This documentary base is mainly intended for the members of the platform and aims to facilitate monitoring by identifying verified information that is relevant to the situation in partner countries and up-to-date on Covid.
It is managed collectively, in coordination with the team of reference experts and network of focal points. Each expert from the team of experts puts information in the documentary base on the latest technical and scientific production from their speciality (international health regulations, recommendations and good practices, etc.). The focal points report the relevant information from the countries where they are deployed (context, response strategies, needs, etc.).
The documents are verified by the platform’s technical coordination before being put online. Along with the main issue of the qualitative targeting of the relevant documentation, in terms of quantity, 1,500 documents have so far been verified and made available.
Network of focal points in partner countries
The focal points are in constant contact with the team of experts and act as coordinators between the documentary base, the authorities in the countries where they are deployed and the development partners, especially Team France.
Most of these experts were already assigned to development projects financed by the various partners of Team Europe. Covid-19 has restricted travel and development activities, while creating new needs for technical assistance.
With their position in the countries, their access to the documentary base, training and continuous coaching, since April 2020, these technical assistants have been able to give appropriate advice to the health authorities they are assigned to and report information from the field.
Their assistance covers strategic areas with, for example, extensive support to the crisis management bodies in Guinea in order to produce official recommendations and action plans, but also on a more operational level, for adaptation and the preparation of projects to respond to the crisis.
More about AFD Group's “Covid-19 – Health in Common” initiative
