The current COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be devastating for health systems globally. To slow the spread of the virus and to reduce its toll, country leaders must manage strong systems-focused, multi-sectoral coordination, planning, and monitoring. To support countries, Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage (JLN) and the Health Systems Strengthening Accelerator (Accelerator) facilitated a year-long learning collaborative to help country leaders learn from each other on various topics, including how to create and manage the cross-sectoral teams to mount a coordinated response to the pandemic, developing pandemic/epidemic preparedness and response strategies, and strengthening coordination across sectors and across different levels of government to ensure a prompt and effective response.

On February 8, 2022, from 10:30am to 12pm GMT, the JLN and the Accelerator will host a final webinar to:

• Articulate key actions countries and partners will need to take to improve coordination of the COVID-19 response as we enter the third year of the global pandemic
• Highlight the key lessons and promising practices identified through the Collaborative’s work over the past year
• Reflect on the impact and value of the Collaborative to improve national responses to pandemics

The webinar will include a moderated dialogue on the best practices for an effective national response to pandemics in low and middle-income countries.

Opening Remarks:

• Professor Samba Sow, World Health Organization Special Envoy for COVID-19 and Director General of the Center for Vaccine Development in Mali

Moderators:

• Professor Raquel Duarte of the University of Porto in Portugal
• Professor John Ryu of Yonsei University in South Korea

Panelists:

• Dr. Beza Aseffa – Ministry of Health, Ethiopia
• Dr. Kwame Amponsa-Achiano – Ghana Health Service, Ghana
• Ms. Meboh Abuor – Council of Governors, Kenya
• Mr. Steven N Kabwama – Makerere University School of Public Health, Uganda

Have any reflections from your JLN experiences? Please share them using the comments feature, below.