MUHAS to scale up researches on social ands behavior change

The symposium brought together researchers, academicians, government officials as well as representatives from NGOs, faith –based organizations and international institutions from Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar and United Nations agencies.

The conference was themed ‘Advancing Social and Behaviour Change in Emergencies (SBCiE) through High Impact Approaches: Forging Synergies and Partnerships to Deliver SBCiE at Scale - Connected for Impact’.

Prof Kamuhabwa said MUHAS has been in the forefront in collaborating with various health stakeholders in conducting researches and consultancies, leading in teaching on the context of social and behaviour change in emergencies.

He said research can also be one of the components when it comes to capacity building to health practitioners and societies at large on how to deal with social and behaviour when an emergency occurs.

Citing examples of COVID 19 and recent Marburg virus out-break in the country, He said the challenges were managed as experts responded faster and more effectively to save lives, livelihoods and safeguard health due to the awareness on how to stop the spread and curb the viruses.

“We believe in partnership with other entities in implementing and advancing programs, professionalism and awareness in making sure that we are ready prepared when emergencies occur,” said Prof Kamuhabwa.

He added that recently, the school of Public Health and Social Sciences with support from UNICEF conducted a comprehensive social-anthropological survey to identify social, cultural, and economic factors that may accelerate or hinder transmission of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in five high risk regions of Tanzania and Zanzibar.

United Nations Children Education Funds (UNICEF) Deputy Representative to Tanzania, Ousmane Niang said the symposium has come at the right moment due to the fact that there is El-Nino rains whereas emergencies may occur requiring evacuation, hygiene and supporting vulnerable people.

Niang applauded MUHAS for its efforts in championing and leading on SBEiC, saying they will continue with the partnership by committing to address issues of SBEiC in Tanzania.

UNICEF technical lead on SBEiC, Madzinga Kusena mentioned some of the outcomes of the symposium as knowledge sharing, networking and collaborating, community building as well as advancement of the knowledge on SBCiE.

Kusena said the symposium aims to foster collaborative partnership in public health emergencies, sharing insights including effective strategies and lessons learnt from UNICEF SBCiE.

“We are also expecting to cultivate synergies and coordination for seamless SBCiE as well as exploring SBC accountability systems, monitoring and evaluation systems and knowledge management in public health,” said Kusena.