Dar es salaam – Call Centers are among the most commonly used tools by health authorities in the response public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The reason is three-fold, first, they establish a direct link between at-risk populations and emergency responders. Secondly, they improve responders’ understanding of people’s perceptions, attitudes and concerns. Finally, they provide public health advice, counselling and/or referral to other services.

In Tanzania, the Afya Call Center hosted by the Ministry of Health was established at onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to collect community feedback, rumours and misinformation related to specific disease outbreaks with the aim to implement tailored public awareness interventions. On average, a total of 150,000 calls are received and responded every month by the Afya Call Centre operators inquiring on various health related issues including COVID-19 vaccines, Measles, Cholera, and Ebola Virus Disease. Through this social listening platform, about 4 million people are reached monthly with disease outbreak messaging.

Following the threat of possible importation of Ebola Virus Disease from Uganda and the DR Congo, the Ministry of Health saw the need to build capacity of the Afya Call Centre operators to be able to effectively respond to community inquiries and manage rumours and misinformation related to EVD and other disease outbreaks such as Cholera, Measles, and Leptospirosis.

A three-day refresher training workshop was organized with support from WHO for 31 call center operators covering latest updates and information related to Ebola Virus Disease, Cholera and COVID-19.

Speaking during the workshop, Ms Beatrice Titho, the Call Centre Supervisor, appreciated WHO support saying it has improved operators’ understanding and capacity to provide public health advice, counselling and/or referral to other services.

“This training has helped me regain confidence to respond to calls. I am now more knowledgeable about Ebola Virus Disease, Cholera and COVID-19 disease. I am in a better position to clarify circulating rumors and concerns from callers more confidently,” said Ms Tabitha Asheri, one of the call operators.

This training is part of WHO’s continued support to the Center and the Risk Communication and Community Engagement pillar. Previously, WHO has provided the center with laptops as working tools, conducted frequent briefings for the newly recruited operators and continues to support regular updating of the manual on Frequently Asked Questions.

“We work closely with WHO and partners to ensure that the Call Center operates optimally and generates data from calls to inform and adjust the public health response. We are very grateful for this continued support.” said Peter Mabwe, Head of the Communication Unit of the Health Promotion Section.

WHO and partners will continue supporting implementation of evidence-based Risk Communication and Community Engagement interventions to build trust in the public health response measures and increase the probability that health advice will be followed by communities to protect themselves and loved ones.