Joint ECDC and Africa CDC training to strengthen surveillance and epidemic intelligence in Sierra Leone
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), in collaboration with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa are conducting training in R programming and epidemic intelligence for surveillance experts from the National Public Health Agency of Sierra Leone. The five-day training takes place in Freetown from 26 to 30 January 2026.
The training is being delivered under the Africa CDC–ECDC Partnership Project, which has been implemented since January 2021 with financial support from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships through the European Development Fund. One of the project’s core objectives is to strengthen national and regional capacities for epidemic intelligence, surveillance, and data analysis across Africa.
This joint training initiative focuses on building practical skills in R programming and epidemic intelligence methods to support early detection, assessment, and response to public health threats. By combining these two complementary areas, the initiative will reinforce Sierra Leone’s ability to detect, investigate, and respond to health threats more efficiently, ultimately contributing to a more robust and resilient surveillance system.
This activity supports Sierra Leone in enhancing national preparedness and response capacities. Strengthening staff competencies in data management, analysis, and interpretation is essential to fully operationalise this new capability.
While the training is focused on strengthening national capacity in Sierra Leone, it also contributes to wider regional and continental efforts led by Africa CDC and supported by ECDC to enhance epidemic intelligence, data analytics, and surveillance systems across Africa.
This training builds on ECDC’s earlier support to Sierra Leone, including the deployment of ECDC experts through the EU Health Task Force to support the country’s response to the mpox outbreak. By linking emergency response support with longer-term capacity-building in epidemic intelligence and data analysis, ECDC aims to support sustainable national preparedness and more effective responses to future public health threats.
ECDC continues to support national and regional partners in strengthening epidemic intelligence, surveillance, and data analysis capacities as part of its broader commitment to global health security. Through long-term collaboration with Africa CDC, WHO and national and international public health institutions, ECDC contributes to building sustainable, data-driven systems that enable the timely detection, assessment and response to public health threats.
