“Health System Strengthening in the Gambia”

Melissa A. McDiarmid, MD, MPH, DABT, Professor of MedicineAllisha Ellis, MSW

University of Maryland School of Law StudentJune 1-16, 2014

WHO Health System Strengthening Campaign

WHO Working Together for Health, 2006

“Losing its workforcecan bring a fragilehealth system close tocollapse’’

“One pillar of the WHO Health System Strengthening Campaign is Health Workers’’

1. Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Dashboard

2. Employee Workplace Safety Climate Survey

3. Occupational Health Service Asset Map

Key informants interviews to assess utility of OHS toolkit:

• IP collaborations enabled a deeper appreciation of the social determinants of health and health policy which shape the Gambian and any health system.

• The level of health worker professional education is highly variable in the Gambia and therefore will affect assumptions about language use and professional practice experience we presumed in drafting tools we reviewed with Gambian colleagues.

• Experience with the Gambian health system and its awareness of health worker risks has informed a new assignment we received from WHO last week to assist in developing Ebola prevention materials for heath workers in affected regions.

Outcomes:

…a little time for monkey business!

QUESTIONS?!