Fifty-six health professionals from Masvingo and Matabeleland South provinces have graduated with certificates in the Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP), strengthening Zimbabwe’s capacity to detect, investigate and contain disease outbreaks at community level.
The graduates completed the in-service training programme under the Ministry of Health and Child Care’s FETP frontline cohorts five and six. The programme is designed to equip frontline health workers with essential epidemiological skills for rapid identification and management of public health threats within districts and provinces.
FETP targets health workers who are often the first to detect unusual health events in their communities, enabling early response and preventing outbreaks from escalating.
Speaking on the graduation, the Ministry of Health and Child Care Public Relations Manager, Donald Mujiri, said the training programme was a critical investment in strengthening the country’s health security and emergency preparedness.
“The Field Epidemiology Training Programme is a strategic initiative that equips our frontline health workers with practical skills to rapidly detect, respond to and contain public health emergencies at their source.
These graduates are now better positioned to identify disease outbreaks early and take timely action to protect communities,” he said
He said the completion of the training by health workers from Masvingo and Matabeleland South provinces demonstrated Government’s commitment to decentralising public health expertise and ensuring that response capacity is available at the grassroots level.
“The fact that these are in-service trainees means the skills acquired are immediately applied within their districts and facilities.
This strengthens surveillance systems and improves the quality of response during health emergencies,” Mujiri added.
Mujiri said the graduation of the two cohorts was timely, given the evolving public health landscape and the increasing need for skilled personnel capable of managing emergencies at district and provincial levels.
“Our health system must be proactive rather than reactive. Training programmes such as FETP ensure that potential outbreaks are identified early, investigated properly and controlled before they escalate into national emergencies,” he said.
The FETP frontline programme focuses on disease surveillance, data collection and analysis, outbreak investigation, risk communication and evidence-based decision-making.
Participants undergo a combination of classroom instruction and field-based practical training while continuing with their routine duties.
The graduation of the 56 health workers brings to the fore the growing pool of trained field epidemiologists supporting Zimbabwe’s disease surveillance and response efforts.
