Dr. Acho presenting his work at The Task Force.
Photo Credit: Sumon Ray
One Epidemiologist Equipping Countries to Stop Disease Outbreaks
Dr. Alphonse Acho
Epidemiologist Alphonse Acho has spent his career protecting people during outbreaks of cholera, measles, polio and other deadly diseases. Now, he is helping communities prepare for these health threats before they happen.
Dr. Acho helps communities build strong disease detection processes and health systems through a program known as Strengthening Outbreak Notification and Response (SONAR), a Task Force partnership with Africa CDC, WHO and the Global Fund that supports 14 low- and middle-income countries. These systems are paramount in boosting countries’ capacity to detect, notify, investigate and respond to emerging outbreaks in a timely manner so they can be contained. This approach has resulted in many successes. For example, due to training, coaching and mentorship from Task Force epidemiologists, a community in Ntcheu, Malawi, was able to promptly detect a measles case from neighboring Mozambique. This activated the response mechanism they put in place, avoiding a surge of infections that could have spilled over into neighboring districts.
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Dr. Acho speaking at a training of health workers on Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response in Salima, Malawi
Photo Credit: Mtisunge Yelewa
SONAR helps countries establish comprehensive, coordinated surveillance systems to detect emerging outbreaks, track the course of pathogens through the community, link laboratory and epidemiological data from the cases, and make the data accessible in a form readily understandable by decision makers.
Dr. Acho oversees these initiatives in Malawi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Burkina Faso, but the benefits extend far beyond those four countries, by reducing the likelihood of disease transmission to other parts of the world.
Dr. Acho says it starts at the community level.
“When I visit these countries, I often go to the community,” he said. “They often notice things first, like when clusters of animals get sick or die. Since many infectious diseases are zoonotic in nature, that is, they come from animals. It’s important to empower communities to be the first to raise concerns.”
This community-based surveillance, coupled with national disease data, helps Dr. Acho determine which aspects of a country’s health system need to be strengthened. It also gives him a sense of what skills could be helpful to local health officials. Once he identifies those gaps, he collaborates with healthcare workers to address them.To facilitate this exchange of information and experiences, Dr. Acho organizes weekly coordination meetings with professionals across the four countries he serves.
Dr. Acho and colleagues gathered to train health workers on Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response in Salima, Malawi
Photo Credit: Mtisunge Yelewa
“During our monthly calls, we engage with Task Force colleagues working in other SONAR countries. We discuss the challenges they encounter and brainstorm possible solutions based on our common experiences.” Dr. Acho is one of more than 60 SONAR consultants who use an online sharing platform called Basecamp to support each other. It’s a digital hub they use to ask questions, discuss obstacles and share successes and strategies.
“Countries can share how they’ve dealt with certain issues, and then others can learn from that,” he said.
In addition to providing health workers with information and practices to prevent and control diseases in their communities, Dr. Acho and his colleagues also train Ministry of Health officials on how to maintain and sustain the improved systems.
“We work to ensure that these healthcare systems are resilient. They have to be sustainable,” he said.
Dr. Acho says his work involves an intense schedule with lots of traveling, but the lasting impact of a safer future motivates him to continue.
“The very first people I think about each time I get up from my bed are the people we serve,” he said. “Each time we are able to promptly detect a case, and provide a timely response, we see the smile on that person’s face and the community is reassured. I always have that image at the back of my mind.”
Task Force for Global Health and Global Fund staff visit Ncheu District, Malawi to discuss community-based surveillance efforts
Photo credit: Alphonse Acho