Safe Liver – Egypt (IFMSA-Egypt)

Name of the activity: Safe Liver

Country/NMO: Egypt (IFMSA-Egypt)

Program: Communicable Diseases

Contact information: [email protected]

Type of the activity: Campaign

Focus area:

Prevention of Communicable Diseases | Hepatitis

Problem statement:

In recent decades, medicine exceeded only role in treating the disease, but focuses on prevention. Most of the budgets of the health services in developed countries are spent on prevention programs that target lower levels of incidence and prevalence or even the elimination of certain diseases.
While on the other hand, most of the budget in developing countries consumed by health programs to provide health services and medicines programs for people suffering from diseases due to the high prevalence rate of diseases.
Here comes our role as medical students is community care and working on public health issues such as Hepatitis.
In this project we will work on three main axes:
1. Research studies
2. Health Education campaigns.
3. Screening for liver Virus infection and provide treatment
Moreover, we are working on a long-term project which will continue for several years, working on a fixed set with continuous follow-up, where would be the best way to assess the impact of our efforts year after year. Therefore, we will make a baseline survey for the selection of some of the villages as a control for the implementation of the three axes.
We will be launching our project with a scientific workshop through the help of specialists in the field of liver disease, with more emphasis on how to handle and to influence public behavior and another workshop to the basics of a research study and how to make data analysis and come up with results in the form of a scientific paper well-designed. This will be in cooperation with Egyptian Liver
Research Institute & Hospital (ELRIAH) in Dakahlia under the theme of Villages free from viral hepatitis

Target groups and beneficiaries:

medical & paramedical students + villages inhabitants

Objectives and indicators of success:

-Creating a team of volunteers
-Dealing with Egyptian Liver Research Institute & Hospital (ELRIAH) in Dakahlia, Hibridge
-Start by creating a core team formed by number of Local Coordinators
-Scanning phase for villages and choosing the most compatible village
-Awareness campaigns shall be held to provide primary protection against HCV after dividing the village into sectors to be easy to cover
-Screening campaigns to all villages members house by house to make sure that we don’t leave anyone without screening
-Create a list of names of all HCV +ve patients and hand them to authorities to get the treatment they need

Methodology:

1. Capacity building:
 Team recruitment: open the call for respected LPOs to send names and contacts of local coordinators
 National workshop:
o National scientific workshop. It is supposed to be held within the end of November.
o Other suggestions will be taken in consideration according to flexibility of time line.
o National peer-education training shall include the way to approach target groups with different backgrounds & and how to modulate the health message, they shall get during the workshop to obtain relevant message to each group separately.
o Methods of infection, Ways of Protection, Screening methods, Treatment
 Develop Needs’ Assessment for all local committees and following up with LPOs and Local Coordinators to be fulfilled.
 Field visits to local committees’ events, workshops & campaigns.
 Regular follow up with the team by online and physical meeting if possible to discuss obstructions, sharing mistakes and sharing new ways of advocacy.
2. Collaboration
 Coordinate with IFMSA-Egypt public relations to:
o Starting a deal with Ministry of health and population and the related university hospitals in each government to:
 Provide us by ELISA screening test with a reasonable price for the villagers
 Provide us by the required material for the screening test as much as possible
 Provide us by a contact number and place in each government to refer the +ve cases to be treated as soon as possible
o start a deal with VACSERA, ELRIAH and Egyptian liver institute to
 provide us with HBV vaccine with reasonable price
o start cooperation with:
 Life makers
 EPSF
 EADS
 Start cooperation with SCORA to:
o provide IFMSA members with basic knowledge of safe injection
 cooperation with public & private hospitals to:
o provide health workers with basic knowledge of safe injection.
3.sustainable strategic goals:
– HCV-free village:
 Methodology of working:
o Start by creating a core team
o Scanning phase for villages and choosing the most compatible village.
o Creating a preliminary plan of action
o Start contacting potential partners that includes other NGOs, health ministry and any other organizations with the same target.
o Dividing the village in to areas.
o Awareness campaigns shall be held to provide primary protection against HCV
o Screening campaigns to all villages members house by house tomake sure that we don’t leave anyone without screening.
o Create database for all data used to be introduced as reference.
o Create a list of names of all HCV +ve patients and hand them to authorities to get the treatment they need.
o Results of work shall be announced in safe liver celebration.
o Visiting the village after 2 to 4 months to provide sustainable awareness level for the village.
4.Timeline:
 Phase one: Starting a deal with Ministry of health and population and the related university hospitals
 Phase two: Starting a deal with
o VACSERA (Plan A)
o MOHP and the related university hospitals in each government (Plan B)
o Egyptian liver institute
 Phase three: Team recruitment
 Phase four: National workshops
Phase five: Methodology of work in villages:
o Registering 100 family per village (3 villages in each government)
o Collection of the samples for the screening .by ELISA o Follow up for negative cases.
o Positive cases are admitted to the hospital and start the treatment.
o Coding and registering all data collected in a computerized way
 Phase six: Phase 6: Methodology of work in universities (HCV):
o Registering 200 workers – students per university
o Health Education throw awareness campaigns
o Screening that starts from rapid blood test to PCR
o Positive cases are admitted to the hospital and start the treatment
o Coding and registering all data collected in a computerized way
 Methodology of work in universities (HBV):
o Registering 500 students per university
o Receiving the 3 doses of HBV vaccine
 Phase seven: Start an initiative under the name of “Hospitals free from hepatitis”
o Each LC start targeting one hospital in its government.
o Application of the same steps mentioned above in it in coordination with the hospital administration
 Phase eight: national HCV-free village
 Phase nine: Online promotion for the project
o Coordination with IFMSA-Egypt Publication team for online campaigning, photo documentation & media coverage
 Phase ten: World Hepatitis Day celebration “28th July”
o Coordination with Fundraising director to hold national celebration at that day for awareness about Liver & importance of health education about hepatic diseases

Plans for evaluation:

Monitoring:
o Continuous follow up with all LCs sharing in the project.
o Competition between LCs to select the best one.
o Periodic reporting from each LC show the progress of:
o Awareness step
o Screening & treatment steps
o Total number of families & individuals participated in each step.
o Peer education & sustainability.

 Evaluation:
o Performing Evaluation sheet filled in by every local coordinator & LPO of each LC sharing in the project.
o SWOT analysis for each step & phase separately, then overall evaluation for whole the project.
o Half-Year Report by the national coordinator.
o End-Term Report by the national coordinator.