EAC Expert Pool: Strengthening health workforce for regional security

2026-03-04 - 12:08

Arusha, Tanzania, 4th March, 2026: As East Africa continues to face recurrent outbreaks of high-impact infectious diseases such as Mpox, anthrax, Ebola and Marburg Virus Disease, the need for a skilled, mobile and regionally coordinated health workforce has never been more urgent. At the centre of the East African Community’s (EAC) efforts to address this challenge is the EAC-Rapidly Deployable Expert (RDE) Pool, a growing network of trained professionals across various disciplines supporting pandemic preparedness and response across Partner States. Developed with support from the German Government through Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Germany’s international development cooperation agency, under the EAC Support to Pandemic Preparedness (PanPrep) Project, the EAC-RDE Pool is increasingly demonstrating its value not only as an emergency response mechanism, but also as a strategic platform for strengthening the regional health workforce and enhancing health security across the East African Community. Building a regional health security workforce The EAC-RDE Pool is a database and deployment system of public health and emergency response professionals drawn from across EAC Partner States. It is designed to enable rapid mobilisation of expertise across borders, guided by a One Health approach that integrates human, animal, environmental health and other disciplines. Beyond rapid response, the RDE mechanism supports experts throughout the full cycle of application, recruitment, training, deployment and post-deployment learning, ensuring continuous professional development and institutional memory. “The EAC-RDE Pool is an investment in people, not just emergency response,” says Petranilla Nakamya, an RDE member and trainer from Uganda. “By continuously training, mentoring and deploying experts, the EAC is creating a sustainable pipeline of skilled professionals who can support countries during crises and strengthen systems between outbreaks. This is the future of health workforce development for the region.” Strengthening cross-border preparedness through Joint Risk Assessment A key example of the EAC-RDE Pool’s contribution to regional preparedness was the Joint Risk Assessment (JRA) and Training of Trainers (ToT) initiative on anthrax and Mpox, conducted in Entebbe, Uganda, from October to November 2025. From 20 October to 8 November 2025, national and regional experts from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan and Uganda convened for a JRA workshop using the WHO Tripartite JRA framework. Facilitated by experts from the EAC, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the RDE Pool and GIZ, the exercise focused on anthrax due to its recurrent outbreaks, its One Health dimensions given animal to human transmission risks, and significant cross-border health implications. Participants jointly analysed outbreak likelihood, impact and uncertainty, developed risk pathways, characterised national risk levels, and agreed on mitigation and risk communication measures. By the end of the workshop, each country had finalised a JRA report to inform national preparedness and response planning—strengthening early warning systems and coordinated decision-making across borders. Running in parallel a Training of Trainers programme targeted the frontline human and animal health professionals. A total of 106 participants, including medical and veterinary doctors, nurses, laboratory personnel, public health practitioners and hospital administrators—were trained using participatory methods such as simulations, case studies and group work. The training covered Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) for Mpox and anthrax; Clinical management and post-exposure measures; Multisectoral risk assessment and outbreak management; and Risk communication and facility-level IPC assessments. EAC-RDE members served as both trainees and trainers, reinforcing peer learning and ensuring that skills could be cascaded nationally and sub-nationally following the training programme. “Before joining the RDE Pool, my experience with outbreaks was largely national and reactive,” says Dr Eddy Idufashe, an EAC-RDE member and ToT trainee from Rwanda. “Through RDE trainings, I gained practical skills in risk communication, infection prevention and coordinated response that I now apply both at home and across borders. The RDE Pool has transformed us from isolated responders into a regional health security workforce that speaks the same technical language and operates with shared standards.” IPC training as a cornerstone of workforce protection In March 2025, the EAC Secretariat, through the PanPrep Project, organised a major regional IPC training in Mwanza, Tanzania, further illustrating the EAC-RDE Pool’s role in workforce development. Triggered by a request from Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) responding to a Marburg Virus Disease outbreak, the training brought together 64 healthcare professionals from FBO facilities and Ministries of Health in Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan. The programme was implemented in collaboration with the German Epidemic Preparedness Team (SEEG) and the Africa CDC’s Africa Volunteer Health Corps (AVoHC). Before this, 160 health workers and community leaders in DRC’s North and South Kivu provinces were trained in IPC and RCCE focusing on Mpox with support from EAC-RDE members working together with the SEEG. “Training health workers through the RDE platform is not just about transferring knowledge—it is about building confidence and readiness before an emergency happens,” says Robert Hongo, an EAC-RDE trainer from Tanzania. “Harmonised regional training strengthens trust, interoperability and speed of response when countries face outbreaks.” As part of the training, the EAC, with GIZ support, donated IPC supplies including handwashing stations, PPE and disinfection equipment to strengthen infection control in Mwanza health facilities. Learning across borders, strengthening One Health The RDE Pool’s added value lies in its regional and multisectoral character. Through deployments and joint trainings, experts gain exposure beyond their national contexts while contributing to collective preparedness. “The biggest value of the RDE Pool is that it allows the EAC to move expertise to where it is needed most, when it is needed most,” says Venant Luvalya, an RDE member and trainer from DRC. “Being deployed outside my own country helped me understand regional dynamics and gaps, and it also strengthened my own professional growth.” Crucially, the RDE Pool integrates veterinary, food safety and environmental health professionals into outbreak preparedness and response. “Health security is not only about hospitals,” notes Dr Angelo Goup Thon, an RDE member and trainer from South Sudan. “Through the RDE Pool, professionals from veterinary medicine, food safety and environmental health are integrated into preparedness and response. This One Health approach has strengthened prevention at the source and expanded the skills of health workers to think beyond their traditional sectors. In February 2026 in Lodwar, Kenya, the EAC’s RDE Pool, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Kenya National Public Health Institute, Africa CDC’s AVoHC, and SEEG conducted a joint training to strengthen Marburg Virus Disease preparedness in Kenya. The training brought together county officials and healthcare workers, with up to 56 health professionals participating over a two-week period. The objective was to enhance outbreak preparedness by strengthening skills in IPC, and RCCE, while aligning protocols and building capacity for cascade training to expand outreach across Northern Kenya, amid heightened regional risk following the recent MVD outbreak in neighbouring Ethiopia. Strategic partnerships and the road ahead The RDE Pool does not act in isolation. It operates within a growing ecosystem of regional and continental collaboration. Joint tabletop simulation exercises with WHO, SEEG and Africa CDC, ongoing efforts to align the RDE Pool with Africa CDC’s AVoHC, and joint presentations at forums such as the International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA) have strengthened interoperability and visibility. Looking ahead, the EAC and its partners are prioritising sustainable funding for deployments, including through domestic resource mobilization, standardization of deployment procedures, expanding non-human health expertise, deepening collaboration with Africa CDC and WHO, and enhancing visibility through joint training and deployment initiatives. Regional asset for health security As infectious disease threats continue to transcend borders, the RDE Pool is emerging as a cornerstone of health workforce development in East Africa, equipping professionals with shared skills, shared standards and shared purpose. By investing in people before crises strike, the EAC is not only improving outbreak response, but building a resilient, integrated and future-ready regional health security workforce, while contributing to better health outcomes of East Africans and on the continent as a whole. Speaking during a press conference to officiate the first deployment of RDE experts on 1st November 2024, the EAC Secretary General, Hon. Veronica Nduva, said said that infectious diseases have no boundaries with the EAC region exhibiting all the features for cross-border movement of diseases. “The EAC is a region that is known for continuous movement of people and goods, and where we are experiencing recurrent infectious disease outbreaks, often spreading from animal to humans,” the Secretary General said, adding: “The EAC and its Partner States have, therefore, over several years, built up preparedness and response capacities in collaboration with key technical and funding partners. Accordingly, the EAC Expert Pool does not operate in isolation. Through our long-term collaboration with the Africa CDC, WHO, the German government, to name a few, we aim to create synergies that can enhance our collective efforts. We know that every outbreak requires a coordinated response.”