GIBACHT - Global-Partnership-Initiated-Biosecurity-Academia for Controlling Health Threats
Project Abstract
The Global Partnership Initiated Biosecurity Academia for Controlling Health Threats (GIBACHT) is a multilateral one-year biosafety and biosecurity part-time training programme. GIBACHT started in 2013 and is currently running its eights cohort. It targets postgraduate public health professionals of partner countries in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The programme is supported by the German Biosecurity Programme and conducted in partnership between the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, and the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET).
GIBACHT aims to provide theoretical and practical knowledge and skills on disease threats and their control, to strengthen capacity building in disaster management and preparedness, to sensitise for „dual-use“, biosafety, and biosecurity issues, and to establish and sustain international co-operations in disease prevention. The training consists of 17 e-learning modules, three face-to-face workshops (in Hamburg, Berlin, and Kampala/Uganda), and distance-based group work to develop teaching materials (case studies), with a total workload for the fellows of around 250 hours
GIBACHT is answering the need of countries with not sufficiently prepared health systems and risk of accidental and deliberate release of infectious agents by a tailored methodology. To date, 115 fellows from more than 20 countries were/are being trained. In line with the multiplier concept, fellows are conducting case study exercises with focus on biosafety/biosecurity in their home countries and institutions. Anonymous evaluations of the course by the fellows have regularly scored above 4 (mean of 4.7, n= ?) on a 1-5 rating scale and have shown great acceptance of the programme.
The knowledge network is further strengthened by the implementation of an alumni concept on a Moodle platform and inclusion of GIBACHT alumni at international conferences. In the future, the case studies developed by the fellows during the programme will be shared with the scientific field by implementation at their home institutions and through publication.
