Tackling Sepsis in Africa – The Neglected Silent Killer
World Sepsis Day 2023 Webinar, Wednesday, September 13
7 PM Central African Time
Participation via Zoom
In order to mark World Sepsis Day, we have gathered leaders across the African Continent and globe to discuss sepsis improvement and what is required to prevent, recognize, and manage sepsis in Africa.
Africa is the continent with the highest burden of disease related to sepsis with nearly 17 million cases and 4 million deaths each year. In 2017, the World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted resolution 70.7 on “Improving the prevention, diagnosis and clinical management of sepsis” which urges member states to integrate sepsis management in their national health systems. Unfortunately, despite the disproportionate burden of sepsis in Sub-Saharan Africa, there have not been any large-scale efforts to implement the WHA resolution in Africa. Collective and concerted action is urgently needed to save lives and avoid deaths from sepsis, and African institutions need to lead these efforts.
The aim of the webinar is to raise awareness about the urgency for action and discuss a way forward with key stakeholders.
Join us as our experts discuss and propose a way forward for sepsis improvement in Africa.
Preregistration is not required – simply click and follow the link provided to join the webinar.
Featured Panelists
Tajudeen Raji MD, MPH, FWACP, Chatham House Fellow
Tajudeen is a Medical Doctor with postgraduate qualifications in Pediatrics and Public Health. He is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians and African Public Health Leaders Fellow of the Chatham House Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, UK. He has years of senior level experience in Emergency Preparedness and Response, Health Workforce Development, Public Health Research, Health System Strengthening, Health Diplomacy, Maternal and Child Health, and National Public Health Institutes.
He is currently the Head of Public Health Institutes and Research at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), African Union (AU), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He coordinates the establishment and strengthening of National Public Health Institutes across the AU Member States. He coordinates the Health Workforce Development and Public Health Research agendas of the Africa CDC.
Tajudeen leads the medical countermeasures section of the Africa CDC COVID-19 response. He co-chairs the case management technical working group of the Africa Taskforce on COVID-19. He leads the Saving Lives and Livelihoods Programme (partnership to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination in Africa) of the African Union.
Taj has several publications in peer review journals.
Dr. Pierre Kariyo, Medical Officer, ISD/PHC, WHO Afro
Doctor Pierre Claver Kariyo is Medical officer at WHO, Inter-country support team for West Africa based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in charge of services delivery systems including quality of care, patient safety and IPC.
Before taking up this post, he was Head of the Pediatric department at the University of Burundi. In this capacity, he was heading the emergency care unit for neonates and infants. Dr Kariyo is also former dean of the medical school at the university of Burundi. He has authored around 20 journal articles in peer-reviewed medical journals.
Dr. Babatunde Omilola, Head of Public Health Security and Social Protection, African Development Bank
Dr. Babatunde Omilola is an international development expert and Head of the Public Health, Security, and Human Development Division of the African Development Bank Group. He is responsible for managing the African Development Bank’s multi-billion-dollar response to the COVID-19 pandemic to save lives and livelihoods throughout Africa and to help African countries strengthen their health systems, stabilize their economies, and alleviate the economic and social impacts of the pandemic.
Babatunde served as Head of Development Planning and Inclusive Growth with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in New York and led the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Team on the monitoring and reporting of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) globally. He also co-chaired the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Task Force on Global Food and Nutrition Security Technical Team. Babatunde was UNDP’s Regional Practice Leader for poverty reduction and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa and UNDP’s Senior Economic Advisor and Head of Policy and Strategy in South Africa. He was also the Africa-wide Coordinator with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) based in Washington DC. He handled the relationship of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with the African Union Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In 2022, Babatunde was selected as a Yale World Fellow at Yale University, USA. Babatunde is also a Fellow on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, USA. He was also appointed as a Fellow of the Comparative Research Program for preventing and eradicating poverty by the International Social Science Council from 2014 to 2018. Since 2014, he has been an inaugural member of the Committee on Science for the Reduction of Poverty and Inequality of the Academy of Science of South Africa. He won the prestigious Ford Foundation International Fellowship in 2001 and the Graduate Research Fellowship of the International Development Research Centre in 2004 for his MPhil and Ph.D. degrees in International Development and Development Economics from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom. He served as an Alumni Ambassador of his alma mater, the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
Babatunde has visited and delivered development assistance in over 80 countries worldwide in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Babatunde has been associated with the United Nations International School, New York since 2015.
Dr. Lee Wallis, Lead for Emergency Care, WHO Headquarters
Professor Lee Alan Wallis is Lead: Emergency and Critical Care at WHO Headquarters, Geneva.
Before taking up this post, he was Head of Emergency Medicine for the Western Cape Government, and Professor and Head of the Division of Emergency Medicine at both the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
Lee is past president of the International Federation for Emergency Medicine. He was Founder and President of the African Federation for Emergency Medicine. He is Editor in Chief of the African Journal of Emergency Medicine, and has authored many book chapters and around 300 journal articles. He edited the Oxford University Press AFEM handbook of Acute and Emergency Care.
Dr. Mamdouh El Arraby, Vice Chairman, El Raby Hospital, Egypt
He grew up in a family that is considered a symbol of the struggle that started from scratch until it became known in the field of industry and trade, which is the Al-Arabi family. Mamdouh Al-Arabi added a new path to the El-Araby group, which is the medical activity
Mamdouh El-Araby was born on October 8, 1956, and was distinguished for his scientific excellence, as he was able to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery in 1980 from Ain Shams University in Cairo, then succeeded in obtaining a Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Pediatrics.
He joined El-Araby Group in 1980, and the group's medical activity began with the establishment of El-Araby Medical Center in Shubra in September 1985. In 2000, he was appointed as the head of the medical sector at El-Araby Group. In 2008 Mamdouh Elaraby became a member of the Board of Directors of Elaraby Group. Mamdouh El-Araby founded El-Araby Hospital in Abu Raqba in Menoufia Governorate in December 2014, and it is one of the most modern hospitals in Egypt and the Middle East and has succeeded in obtaining the international accreditation JCI and ISO 2000 certification for the quality of food and beverages. Now he is the current medical advisor to the Arab Foundation for Community Development and former Chairman of its Board of Trustees
Dr. Niranjan 'Tex' Kissoon, President, Global Sepsis Alliance
Tex is President of the GSA and past President of the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies. Professor at UBC & BC Children’s Hospital in Critical Care and Global Child Health, Vancouver, Canada. He also holds the UBC BC Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair in Acute and Critical Care for Global Child Health. In 2020 he received the Drs. Vidyasagar and Nagamani Dharmapuri Award, for Sustained Exemplary and Pioneering Achievements in the Care of Critically Ill and Injured Infants and Children.
Chair
Dr. Emmanuel Nsutebu, President, African Sepsis Alliance
Emmanuel is a Consultant Infectious Diseases Physician, Chair of the Tropical and Infectious Diseases Division and Infection Prevention Committee at Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City (SSMC), Abu Dhabi. He is Chair of the African Sepsis Alliance and investigator for the African Research Collaboration on Sepsis. He previously worked at the Royal Liverpool Hospital as Associate Medical Director for Deterioration and Sepsis and clinical advisor for the National Health Service (NHS) England (sepsis and deterioration).