PAMJ supplements

Case studies on the management of public health events in Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East – the GIBACHT approach

The Global Partnership Initiated Biosecurity Academia for Controlling Health Threats (GIBACHT) is a multilateral one-year biosafety and biosecurity training programme, that has completed seven cohorts since its inception in 2014. GIBACHT is responding to the needs of countries with insufficiently prepared health systems and risk of accidental and deliberate release of infectious agents. The programme is supported by the German Biosecurity Programme, coordinated by the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) and conducted in partnership with the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), and the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET). GIBACHT reaches specialists from public health institutions in partner countries in Africa, the Middle East, and South and Central Asia, who play a key role in managing biological incidents. An integral part of the GIBACHT programme is the development and implementation of context-specific case studies covering the topics of biosafety and biosecurity by the GIBACHT fellows. The scenarios of the individual case studies are selected by the fellows based on their experiences and are intended to address the specific needs and requirements of their respective country or professional environment. In line with the 'training-of-trainers concept' of the programme, the goal is to implement the case study as a teaching tool at the home institution of the fellow. The development of the case studies is closely monitored and supervised by the GIBACHT consortium and GIBACHT alumni supporting the programme. In the course of the fellowship, the fellows have the opportunity to pilot test their developed case studies with Public Health students invited from the Makerere University of Kampala. This supplement contains five case studies from GIBACHT fellows from Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Tunisia, and Uganda. They consist of the presentation of a biosafety/biosecurity scenario, which the target audience is working through by responding through a set of guided questions in group discussions. The case studies encourage critical thinking and problem-solving, and are versatile tools to be applied in a multitude of teaching situations.

Guest editors:

  • Eva Mertens, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Hamburg, Germany
  • Elizeus Rutebemberwa, Programs, African Field Epidemiology Training Network, Kampala, Uganda
  • Barbara Bürkin, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Department Education and Training, Basel (Switzerland)
  • Lea Wende, Robert Koch Institute, Centre for International Health Protection, Preparedness and Operations Support, Berlin, Germany

Contact: Eva Mertens, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Bernhard-Nocht-Strasse 74, 20359 Hamburg, Germany

Supplement booklet (PDF) not available



Table of contents


Outbreak investigation of an unknown gastrointestinal illness in District Victoria, Country Mala, 2016 (Case study)

Muhammad Asif Syed, Nigus Abebe Shumuye, Maria Anyorikeya, Nurbolot Usenbaev, Eva Mertens, Hedia Bellali, Elizeus Rutebemberwa

Pan African Medical Journal. 15 December 2021. 40(2): 1

[PDF - 575 KB]

Containment of a fatal and highly infectious disease outbreak (Case study)

Wilbrod Mwanje, Muatsim Ahmed Mohammed Adam, Erasmus Gidimadjor, Eva Mertens, Barbara Maria Bürkin, Axel Hoffmann

Pan African Medical Journal. 16 December 2021. 40(2): 2

[PDF - 626 KB]

Emergence of a febrile illness of unknown causes among the population and visitors of Upper Egypt (Case study)

Maged Mounir Ibrahim, Afreenish Hassan Amir, Ricardo Strauss, Muhammad Asif Syed, Eva Mertens

Pan African Medical Journal. 16 December 2021. 40(2): 3

[PDF - 580 KB]

Cholera outbreak in Funpur, Winland (Case study)

Muhammad Nadeem Shah, Esra Saleh, Eva Mertens, Hedia Bellali, Elizeus Rutebemberwa

Pan African Medical Journal. 16 December 2021. 40(2): 4

[PDF - 464 KB]

Investigation of an outbreak caused by an unknown infectious pathogen in rural Zola (Case study)

Fortress Yayra Aku, Dinara Beisembekova, Nurudeen Ayobami Adebisi, Eva Mertens, Lea Wende, Sayed Mahdi Marashi, Janine Dywicki

Pan African Medical Journal. 16 December 2021. 40(2): 5

[PDF - 574 KB]
Supplement supported by
Volume 47 (Jan - Apr 2024)
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The Pan African Medical Journal (ISSN: 1937-8688) is a subsidiary of the Pan African Medical Journal. The contents of this journal is intended exclusively for professionals in the medical, paramedical and public health and other health sectors.

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