March 2017
Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
In follow-up to previous trainings on broader exposure assessment principles, the University of Southern California (USC) team conducted a one-week exposure monitoring training workshop focused on training country teams in the installation, maintenance and use of the specific exposure monitoring equipment being used for the Eastern Africa Children’s Health and Time-Series Morbidity/Mortality studies as part of the Eastern Africa GEOHealth Hub. The training team included USC Research Associate Kristin Zacharias, South Coast Air Quality Management District (SC-AQMD) partner and USC consultant Solomon Teffera and a training partner from Maaalab Scientific Equipment. Trainees included the AAU field team as well as two members of each country team (Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda). In addition, local stakeholders from the National Meteorological Agency, the Ministry of Health Ministry of Environment, and the City Administration were engaged in the training process to augment local capacity in monitoring. The training included didactic sessions aimed at providing theoretical background as well as practical and hands-on training in the field. This training was strategically planned in tandem with the installation of air monitoring equipment in Addis Ababa allowed each partner country to witness the commissioning process as well as to receive training on the use and maintenance of equipment. In the coming years of the Hub, this experience will be beneficial in the planning of logistics as well as the technical operation of equipment as the partner universities implement monitoring in their respective countries.
