10 - 14 December 2012, Durban South Africa -- WHO and the Department of Health of the Republic of South Africa organized a practical training course on ship sanitation inspection (SSI) and issuance of ship sanitation certificates for States Parties in the African Region. The purpose of the training was to build countries' capacity in the implementation of the International Health Regulations.

The course also served as the second pilot testing of the training course developed by WHO and partners. The training took place at the School of Port of the Durban Harbor and was facilitated by six experts; three from WHO/Lyon and three from the UK., USA and Spain.
There were 10 Trainees from South Africa Port Health Services and one each from the following countries: Ghana, Mauritius, Seychelles, Namibia and Kenya.

The training involved one day of review of the theoretical part of SSI. Day-two and three were devoted to practical inspection of ships in the Durban harbor. The last day was devoted to summarizing lessons learned and the way forward for country capacity building.

The training session was formally closed by the National Director for Environmental Health Services - Mrs. Aneliswa Cele, who thanked WHO and partners for the choosing Durban – South Africa as the venue the pilot training. She added that, the training will go a long way to improve the quality of port health services in South Africa Dr. Harry Opata, on behalf of WR South Africa, Dr Sarah Barber, and IHR/AFRO, Dr Florimond Tshioko delivered a speech to wrap up the training session. He commended the KZN Port Health services for providing the facilities for the training sessions. Dr. Phllipe Gasquet (WHO / Lyon) , team leader of the facilitators, indicated that WHO will finalize the course content and the training materials for further country capacity building.

Regional Training for Ship Sanitation Inspection and Issuance of Ship Sanitation Certificates