PRECIS

Senegal is experiencing a general shortage of healthcare professionals in terms of both quality and number. In 2007, there were only four healthcare professionals (one doctor and three nurses and midwives) per 10,000 people, below the WHO’s minimum threshold of 23 per 10,000 people to cover the needs of mother and infant health (World Health Statistics, WHO, 2009). Training is provided by the Ecole Nationale de Développement Sanitaire et Social (ENDSS), but staff are scattered unevenly across the country: there is a desperate shortage of midwives in rural areas, making barriers to access to healthcare in rural situations all the more impassable. Côte d’Ivoire is also facing a shortage of healthcare professionals. In 2007 there were only 7 healthcare professionals (one doctor and six nurses and midwives) per 10,000 people. Furthermore, the Côte d’Ivoire’s Strategic Development Plan for Human Resources (2009-2013) showed that training failed to meet needs in terms of both quality and quantity.

PRECIS is implemented under the aegis of the WAHO, in line with its policy of standardising training for healthcare professionals in the region. In Senegal, the e-learning solution helps to standardise training for all active midwives and nurses who were trained before the reforms of 2009, which created a double standard of training to the detriment of these healthcare professionals, and to promote learners being re-qualified at a higher grade upon completion of the course. In Côte d’Ivoire, e-learning will provide a comprehensive solution by providing access to education with a standardised quality and format in each of the Institute’s regional branches, based on WAHO recommendations and the Bachelor-Master-PhD system. It will also help to remedy the conflict between the shortage of teachers and the increasing numbers of students. Phases:1. Implement a national and regional digital learning solution, with teaching materials to match identified needs and a teaching team to train State midwives and nurses. 2. Deliver continued professional development to 1800 State nurses and midwives by 2020.3. Track, assess, and capitalise to improve the courses implemented, and expand the project across the region.

The project’s keystones are blended learning (e-learning and mentoring) and the accessibility of quality teaching that leads to recognised qualifications. The e-learning component in particular enables us to overcome geographical boundaries, avoiding the need for active healthcare workers to travel, facilitates the updating of training content, and optimises costs.