SAVING CONSORTIUM JOINT CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAMME

It was an interesting picture of teamwork and collaboration when Work Package 4 (Food and Drugs Authority (FDA)) and Work Package 2 (University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS)) brought together participants for a capacity building programme held at the Erata Hotel, Accra on 29th and 30 August 2021.

In line with Work Package 4's activity to identify implementation challenges associated with the introduction of the Med Safety App a key intervention to enhance pharmacovigilance in Ghana and introduce best strategies that are robust, efficient and user-friendly to enable patients/consumers and healthcare workers report safety issues of medicines, vaccines and other health products, the FDA initiated a stakeholder mapping and analysis which culminated into the development of a comprehensive concept paper which is expected to guide the process of broader stakeholder engagements within the context of implementation research.

To kick-start these stakeholder engagements, the SAVING Consortium project organized a 2-day capacity-building program on stakeholder engagements and implementation research protocols which introduced participants to the concept of implementation research and the various methodologies. Throughout the course, it was underscored that the ultimate aim of implementation research was to utilize evidence-based decision-making to achieve effective delivery of new health technologies and interventions-"delivering the promise".

Drawing from several case studies and success stories of the implementation of the Onchocerciasis and the Malaria programmes in Africa, participants discussed issues pertaining to needs assessment and how implementation research can be done taking into consideration elements like-home management studies, community-directed interventions, country studies, etc. The training is expected to be completed in the next couple of months.