Guinea - IOM supported the establishment of the "One Health" healthcare management framework in the Forécariah prefecture located in Western Guinea at the border with Sierra Leone. 

The platform aims to bring local authorities, representatives of the Ministries of Health, Livestock, Environment as well as other stakeholders together to strengthen the collaborative disease surveillance and epidemic preparedness in Guinea. This will contribute to detecting, preventing and responding to health threats in the region and in the country.

The outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in 2014 had heavy consequences on the local socio-economic environment in Forécariah. «The rumor spread as fast as the disease because no one was prepared for an epidemic of this magnitude» said Ibrahima Khalil Soumah, the head of civil society organizations in the village bordering Sierra Leone.

« This multisector platform will serve as a unique framework to enable the prefecture to effectively prevent, detect and coordinate the response to public health emergencies of human, animal and environmental origin, » said Mr. Alhassane Camara, Forécariah prefect and president of the new platform.

Since 2014, IOM has supported the government of Guinea's response to the Ebola outbreak by contributing to strengthening national health security, and supporting the government in implementing International Health Regulations.

« The Forécariah border Prefecture is an area of priority for us and it already benefits from our support through the strengthening of community-based surveillance, the capacity-building at entry points, cross-border cooperation and the establishment of an emergency public health operation center (COU-SP) within the Prefectural Directorate of Health, » said Mrs. Fatou Diallo Ndiaye, IOM's Chief of Mission in Guinea.

The platform was established thanks to the 18-month project "Strengthening preparedness and capacity to respond to public health emergencies in high-risk areas in Guinea" implemented by the IOM in partnership with the International Medical Corps (IMC) funded by the Directorate-General for Civil protection and humanitarian aid of the European Union (DG/ECHO).

For more information, please contact Lucas Chandellier at lchandellier@iom.int.