WHO GLL and ISQua Webinar: From Theory to Practice – Namibia and Mozambique

From theory to practice: national approaches adopted in Namibia and Mozambique to improve the quality of health services 

Date and Time: Wednesday, 9th December, 12:00 – 13:30 CET

From theory to practice: national approaches adopted in Namibia and Mozambique to improve the quality of health services 

Date and Time: Wednesday, 9th December, 12:00 – 13:30 CET

Register Now Button

Given the challenges that health systems worldwide are facing, it is now more important than ever that countries have a defined approach in place for improving the quality of health services. The WHO handbook for national quality policy and strategy outlines an approach for the development of national policies and strategies to improve the quality of health services. A well-defined national direction on quality can create a culture shift and support providers to deliver and users to demand quality care; bring together multiple quality initiatives under a systematic and organized effort to improve quality of care across the health system; secure high-level commitment to quality through stakeholder engagement and consensus-building; and clarify structures for accountability and monitoring of national quality efforts.

Countries are using multiple approaches to define their national directions on quality, in alignment with overall national health sector planning as well as the current COVID-19 context. This webinar will provide an insight into the approaches adopted in Namibia and Mozambique to systematically improve the quality of health services. An overview will be provided of the Namibian experience of developing a national quality policy and strategy. The Mozambique experience will outline how a partnership approach was used to support national and facility-level work on quality of care. Key lessons that emerge from the experience will be shared, alongside a facilitated discussion to share broader country experiences from participants and solicit perspectives on shared challenges. 

Learning Objectives:

The 90-minute session will –

  • Provide an overview of the WHO approach to national direction setting on quality;
  • Provide an insight into the Namibian experience of developing a national quality policy and strategy;
  • Elaborate on the work undertaken in Mozambique to support national and facility-level work on quality of care;
  • Outline the linkages between quality essential health services and COVID-19 building on country experience;
  • Explore key aspects of the learning from both country experiences.

Intended audience:

This webinar is intended for policymakers, administrators, and health workers.

Register Now Button

Speakers:

World Health Organization (WHO)

Dr Shams Syed, Quality Team Lead, Department of Integrated Health Services, WHO

Dr Shams Syed is the Quality Team Lead at WHO Headquarters in Geneva. He directly oversees the WHO national quality policy and strategy initiative, WHO’s technical work on quality in fragile, conflict affected and vulnerable settings and the WHO Global Learning Laboratory for Quality UHC. His WHO career has provided an opportunity to work directly with over 30 countries across the world. In addition, he is currently coordinating design efforts related to the COVID:19 Health Services Learning Hub. He has an academic interest in reverse innovation in global health systems and maintains teaching roles in his spare time, including at Johns Hopkins.

Dr Syed received his medical degree from St. George’s, University of London, and practiced as a General Practitioner in the UK. He received postgraduate public health training at the University of Cambridge. Subsequently, he trained in Preventive Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, is US Board Certified in Public Health & Preventive Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine.

Ministry of Health and Social Services, Namibia

Dr Apollo Basenero

Dr Apollo Basenero, MBChB, has worked as a medical doctor in Uganda, Eritrea and Namibia. He is currently the Chief Medical Officer, Quality Management (QM) Programme in the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) Namibia. He is a Fellow, International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) and Fellow, Arthur Ashe Endowment for the Defeat of AIDS. His achievements include being part of the team that developed the following; Generic MoHSS National QM training curricula for healthcare workers, Consumer Involvement in QM curriculum, QM Coaches curriculum, Trainer of Trainers Programme, QM capacity building framework for the MoHSS, guidelines on; Infection Prevention and Control, Operating Room, Sterile Services and Phlebotomy. He has participated in various research projects, authored and co-authored a number of abstracts and has won a few professional awards. He serves on various key QM committees. Dr. Basenero is very passionate about implementation of continuous quality improvement in healthcare.

Ms Francina Tjituka

Ms. Francina Tjituka, has been a nurse and midwife for over 30 years and has worked with the Ministry of Health and Social Services for Namibia for 15 years. Francina is Head of the Quality Assurance Division and Nursing Services for the Ministry. Francina’s division is mandated with setting standards and ensuring provision of quality of care in the country. Francina’s work experience includes nursing care and coordination of programmes such as HIV Care and support programmes. Francina holds a Diploma in Nursing and Midwifery, a Bachelor of Social Sciences and a Master’s in Public Health.

Mr Jeremia Nghipundjwa

Jeremia Nghipundjwa is the Director of Policy and Planning in the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Namibia. Jeremia’s work entails strategic planning, monitoring of implementation of strategic and annual plans, and producing regular reports. Before his current position, Jeremia worked as a Regional Health Director in Erongo Region of Namibia. Jeremia held several middle-level management positions in the Ministry of Health and Social Services, in the fields of health information systems and public health. Jeremia holds a Diploma in General Nursing and Midwifery, a Bachelor of Nursing Science (Health Service Management) and a Master’s in Public Health (Epidemiology and Biostatistics). Jeremia’s professional goal is to continuously improve service delivery through ongoing learning.

Ministry of Health, Mozambique

Dr Bertur Alface

Dr Bertur Alface is responsible for the technical areas across the health sector including advocating for improved system implementation.

 

Health Service Executive, Ireland

Dr David Weakliam

Dr David Weakliam is Director of the Global Health Programme in Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE) and is a member of the HSE National Quality Improvement Team. He is a Specialist in Public Health Medicine and has worked in global health for more than thirty years, including twelve years in Nepal, Liberia, Sudan, DR Congo and Ghana. From 2003 to 2007 he was Health Advisor with Irish Aid, the Government’s overseas aid programme. David has been leading the HSE Global Health Programme since it was established in 2010. He manages bilateral programmes with Ministries of Health in Mozambique, Ethiopia, Sudan and Zambia and leads the ESTHER Ireland Programme which supports health personnel to develop links with low and middle-income countries. He is Adjunct Professor in global health at University College Dublin.

Register Now Button

Recent Blog Articles

Quarter One: ISQua’s Global Impact

Adverse Events Outside Direct Care

Nominations for 2026 PROMS

ISQua EEA call for tenders

Celebrating ISQua’s Women Leaders on International Women’s Day

Stay in Touch

We bring you the latest research, expert opinions, and industry updates in healthcare safety and quality – so you’re always in the know.

Follow us on social media

Nourhan Kawtharani

Nourhan, a quality and safety coordinator with eight years of experience in ambulatory healthcare in Lebanon, aims to deepen her understanding of the systemic and holistic approach to healthcare through this fellowship.

She aims to identify gaps and develop tailored interventions that address specific contexts rather than applying general solutions. Engaging with diverse professionals and perspectives during this educational journey will expand the application of these concepts across different cultural settings.

Nourhan emphasizes the importance of promoting a culture of continuous learning and improvement within healthcare institutions, considering it a vital leadership responsibility to integrate quality and safety initiatives into the organizational culture.

Nourhan's commitment to patient safety and quality management includes sourcing practical resources and transforming insights into actionable knowledge to drive continued progress in healthcare practices and outcomes.

This will close in 0 seconds

Elom Otchi

Elom is passionate about improving quality of care and patient safety outcomes.

In view of this, he has had the opportunity to work in various capacities with various organisations including AfIHQSA, WHO, UNICEF and others undertaking research, supporting the development of national quality policies and strategies, facilitating the establishment of quality governance systems across all the levels of the health sector and building capacity of national and sub-national quality leads/teams to institutionalize the practice of quality and patient safety across the continent.

He has also worked extensively across all levels of care in the health sector of Ghana, including leading the Quality & Patient Safety program in its largest teaching hospital.

I would like to use this Fellowship as a learning platform and an opportunity to acquire the requisite knowledge, skills and competencies to complement ongoing efforts by like-minded individuals and organizations to continuously advance improve the quality and patient safety in Ghana and the continent.

This will close in 0 seconds

Stephen Taiye Balogun

Stephen is a Senior Programme Officer at the Institute of Human Virology in Nigeria as well as Country Representative for Health Information for All (HIFA).

Stephen plans to use this opportunity to maximise his impact by championing the cause of patient safety and quality in Nigeria and across Africa.

Stephen says "Quality and safety is a major wheel through which universal healthcare coverage can be achieved. The goal is to be a bridge in the gap between the International Quality Improvement and Patient Safety community and my country to ensure rapid spread, adoption, implementation and practice."

We are looking forward to working with both Stephen and our 2020 winner Rhoda Kalondu over the next year.

This will close in 0 seconds

Dr Rhoda Kalondu

Rhoda is the Head of the Patient Safety Unit at Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi and wants to use this Fellowship to learn how to establish a culture of safety and develop systems for assessment and analysis at her institution, and more widely. As well as this, Rhoda intends to develop and execute an intervention to improve patient safety in Kenyatta National Hospital.

It is one thing to institute measures and processes for improvement, but quite another to change the culture of an environment. Rhoda's ambition to lead others in this change inspired the panel.

This will close in 0 seconds

Dr Subhrojyoti Bhowmick

I am an MBBS graduate from Calcutta University with a Gold Medal in Gynecology & Obstetrics.

I have completed M.D in Pharmacology from IPGME& R, Kolkata and have over 12 years of experience in the field of Clinical Research, Pharmacovigilance and Medication management in Hospitals.

I have completed certification in Clinical Research Administration & Project Management from Stanford University, USA and in Patient Safety from Johns Hopkins University, USA.

I am an Assessor for National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Health care providers (NABH), India assessing hospitals for medication safety and clinical quality standards and NABH Assessor for Ethics Committee Accreditation program in India as well.

I serve as the Chairperson, Institutional Ethics Committee of Health Point Hospital, Kolkata and am associated with 2 other Hospital ethics committees as a member.

I finished my Fellowship in Healthcare Quality from the International Society of Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) from Ireland in 2017.

I have published several research articles and have also authored a chapter on “Regulations governing Clinical Trial” in the book “Fundamentals of Clinical Trial & Research”.

I am a peer reviewer for prestigious international journals like the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, CNS Drugs and Drug Safety case reports.

I am the recipient of the UK Seth Oration Award for Best Clinical Pharmacology paper by the Indian Pharmacological Society in 2009 and the “Most promising Healthcare professional in Patient Safety in India” award by the Asian African Chamber of Commerce and Industry in October 2018.

Recently in April 2019, I received the Young Quality Achiever award by Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO), India for 2019 for my work in the field of medication safety and clinical research.

I have a keen interest in teaching and am visiting adjunct faculty of Pharmacology at KMC, Mangalore, India and for Healthcare technology at MAKAUT, Kolkata, India.

I was associated with Stanford University School of Medicine, in the USA as a Senior Clinical Research Associate from 2015 to 2017 and have certification in Biostatistics, Evidence-based Medicine and Medical Writing from Stanford University.

Currently, I am working as the Clinical Director of Academics, Medical Quality and Clinical Research at Peerless Hospital and B K Roy Research Centre, Kolkata.

I am very happy and thrilled to receive the prestigious ISQua Lucian Leape Patient safety Fellowship Award for 2019 and I look forward to honing my skills further in the field of healthcare quality and patient safety through my experiences during this fellowship.

I sincerely believe that successful completion of this fellowship will help me evolve as a more confident Patient safety leader in India who in turn can provide significant inputs on policy changes through NABH for the Indian healthcare system.

This will close in 0 seconds