I-TECH Says Goodbye to Dr. Pamela Collins, Welcomes New Co-Directors

Posted on May 25, 2023May 26, 2023

On May 26, the International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH) bids a fond farewell to its Executive Director, Pamela Collins, MD, MPH. Dr. Collins joined I-TECH in July 2020, seeing the center through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic; a new brand; continued localization of I-TECH offices to independent organizations; and a strategic shift toward an increased focus on mental health, digital health, and One Health programming.

She also spearheaded the formation of the I-TECH Humanitarian Fund, a mechanism to support our colleagues’ critical work in Ukraine after the Russian invasion.

“I am privileged to have worked with this talented and compassionate group of colleagues from around the world for the past 3 years,” said Dr. Collins. “As I entered I-TECH, I discovered a network ready manage the demands of health care delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic and one whose capabilities are aligned with contemporary public health priorities—from workforce development, emerging infectious diseases, digital health, to mental health. While I am sad to leave this community, I am extremely excited for I-TECH’s future.”

While Friday was Dr. Collins’ last day leading I-TECH, she will remain through June as a faculty member in the University of Washington (UW) Departments of Global Health and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Collins will then transition to her new role as the Bloomberg Centennial Chair of the Department of Mental Health at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health—the only school of public health in the country with a department dedicated to mental health.

In her 5 years at the UW, Dr. Collins has also served as the Director of the UW Consortium for Global Mental Health and associate director of the UW Behavioral Research Center for HIV (UW BIRCH).

Dr. Collins will be succeeded in leadership at I-TECH by Ivonne Ximena “Chichi” Butler, MPH, and Pam Kohler, PhD, MPH, BSN. Ms. Butler and Dr. Kohler will serve as interim co-directors of the center, with Ms. Butler overseeing business and administration and Dr. Kohler leading science and assuming a technical advisor role for faculty and staff. The co-directors will work together to represent and pursue collaborations and partnerships within and outside the UW; engage stakeholders to invest in I-TECH; and liaise with country leadership, principal investigators, and staff on program implementation.

Dr. Kohler brings experience as co-director of the UW Center for Global Health Nursing and has been a faculty member with I-TECH for 11 years. In that time, she has led a field epidemiology training program in Tanzania and evaluated STD/HIV treatment and prevention programs and policies in Eastern and Southern Africa. Her research is focused on de-stigmatizing adolescent HIV prevention and treatment service delivery.

“I’m excited about this new leadership structure, which emphasizes and acknowledges both the role of nurses in global health and the profound administrative efforts it takes to lead an organization of this size,” said Dr. Kohler. “I look forward to getting to know our many teams and projects on a deeper level over the coming year.”

Ms. Butler’s 17 years at I-TECH have seen her in various leadership, program management, and technical roles, supporting multiple countries and a diverse project portfolio from health systems strengthening to prevention and clinical treatment programs. She was most recently Associate Center Director.

“I will miss Pamela’s insightful, thoughtful, and inclusive leadership,” said Ms. Butler. “She was the right person to lead us through a uniquely challenging time. Moving forward, I am motivated to broaden our reach beyond HIV and AIDS care and delivery and intentionally put individuals and communities at the center of the care they receive. There is much to learn, and the I-TECH network is well-positioned to do this with the expertise and care that our global teams and partners bring.”

Nursing Efficiency and Task-Sharing in Tanzania

Differentiated Care Health Policy Health Systems Strengthening Human Resources for Health Nursing/HCW Cadres Pamela Kohler Quality Improvement Tanzania

Posted on March 11, 2019March 11, 2019

I-TECH Tanzania led the development of the task-sharing policy guidelines for Health Sector Services approved in 2016 as well as the policy’s operational plan. While task-sharing is a widely known HIV service delivery efficiency strategy, still there is continues gaps between national strategies and actual implementation at the site-level [1,2].

Continue reading “Nursing Efficiency and Task-Sharing in Tanzania”

Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) in Tanzania

Human Resources for Health Integrating Research and Practice Katherine Wilson Pamela Kohler Tanzania

Posted on August 1, 2017February 21, 2020

A training participant takes part in a handwashing exercise as part of a cholera outbreak investigation.

For Tanzania to meet a WHO-specified target of one or more epidemiologists per 200,000 population [1] it will require an additional 250 epidemiologists who are well-trained and geographically distributed in all regions of the country.

To help address this gap, I-TECH, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Ministry of Health Community, Development, Gender, Elderly and Children in Tanzania, launched a new Intermediate Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) for mid-level health professionals.

Continue reading “Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) in Tanzania”

Best Practices

To address the UNAIDS Sustainable Development Goals for elimination of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases by 2030, and the PEPFAR 3.0 goals, I-TECH leverages the technical expertise of its universities and partners, the broad experience of its funders, and best practices from 15 years of implementing programs.

Transition & Sustainability

The International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH) works in partnership with host country governments, universities, professional associations, non-governmental organizations, private sector groups and funding agencies to strengthen local capacity and build sustainable health systems.

I-TECH follows a partnership model that guides the provision of technical services and technical assistance toward local ownership and sustainability, creating projects and programs that can be readily transitioned into national systems.

Based at the University of Washington, I-TECH draws upon a strong global network of public health professionals. The approach described in this document is customized in each country to respond to local needs and priorities. In addition, each I-TECH country office team aligns the model with the unique Partnership Framework Implementation Plans of the partner host government.

1. IDENTIFY NEEDS in consultation with host country governments

I-TECH works with host country governments to assess existing health systems and identify specific areas where the delivery of health care could be improved. This early collaboration helps to ensure that technical assistance accurately reflects the country’s specific health strategies and priorities.

2. STRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS that integrate projects into existing systems

In each partnership, I-TECH develops roles, responsibilities, and timelines based on a long-term vision of integrating projects into existing national systems. As part of this vision, I-TECH recognizes and leverages the strengths and resources of national systems, building on and maximizing these efficiencies. The partnerships that emerge are attuned to the needs, realities, and structure of host country systems. Thus, they build and maintain lasting capacity within host country systems, maximize cost-effectiveness, and produce projects that can be more readily scaled up to meet national goals.

3. SECURE TECHNICAL RESOURCES from affiliated universities, partners, and the I-TECH network

As a center based at the University of Washington, I-TECH has direct access to a wide variety of technical specialists. In addition, I-TECH draws upon a robust global network of locally based public health professionals. These specialists provide a wide range of technical expertise to meet project needs.

4. PROVIDE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND SERVICES tailored to actual needs and resources

I-TECH is committed to technical services and technical assistance approaches that build upon and support the existing strengths of local health systems. In addition, I-TECH prioritizes the use of local and regional expertise, an approach that builds the capacity of local experts to meet locally determined needs.

5. MONITOR PERFORMANCE; evaluate achievement of objectives and measure outcomes

I-TECH implements projects within a quality improvement framework designed to track progress in institutional capacity building and guide successful implementation. Using the framework, implementers monitor the progress of each project against specific benchmarks of success; for example, the progressive transfer of skills and capacity to local institutions. This methodology ensures that objectives are met and provides data to adjust approaches as projects evolve.

6. TRANSITION PROJECT into national systems to ensure sustainability

The ultimate goal of I-TECH’s partnership model is to improve health outcomes by strengthening local capacity and building sustainable health systems. I-TECH’s technical services and technical assistance are tailored from the initial planning stage to produce projects that can be successfully absorbed into national systems within mutually determined and realistic timeframes. Recognizing that a successful transition takes time, I-TECH offers transition support in a variety of technical areas including quality improvement and grant management.

Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision

I-TECH has developed extensive capacity and expertise in voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) program implementation and management by providing comprehensive VMMC services and/or technical assistance across Southern and Eastern Africa in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Technical focus areas include health policy and guideline development, including early-infant male circumcision and piloting and evaluating devices; external and internal quality assurance; demand creation and community mobilization; training; and direct service delivery – all built on a strong foundation of monitoring, evaluation, and learning. Since 2011, I-TECH has directly provided more than 660,000 VMMCs with an adverse event rate of less than 2%.

I-TECH promotes an integrated model, consistent with the Global Health Initiative (GHI) Principles, and supports data-driven program implementation and management. By working closely with the Ministries of Health, local partners, and communities, I-TECH ensures implementations are country-owned and foster strong health systems and sustainable programs.

Program Highlights

VMMC for HIV Prevention in Mozambique

I-TECH assists the Mozambique Ministry of Health (MISAU) to improve the quality, safety and performance of the VMMC sites through external quality assurance visits and mentoring of site staff. I-TECH has helped to design and conduct an evaluation of demand creation activities that were designed to motivate men age 15-49 ...
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VMMC for HIV Prevention in Namibia

I-TECH assists the Ministry of Health and Social Services with the expansion and provision of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) as an HIV prevention option. This support started in 2008 with the development of national guidelines and training materials, followed by national trainings of health care workers. In 2015, this ...
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Integrating Research and Practice

Program Highlights

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Nursing/HCW Cadres

World Health Organization guidelines for placing all HIV positive individuals on antiretroviral treatment has intensified the demand for a competent and accessible global health work force that can accommodate 90-90-90 UNAIDS targets for testing, treating, and virally suppressing HIV patients. There is an urgent need to concentrate on effective, differentiated, and cost-efficient service delivery models that embrace high quality patient-centered HIV care as countries adopt and roll out Test and Start. Achieving 90-90-90 will require substantial shifts in how HIV services are staffed and delivered; different solutions, including task sharing, are still needed to reach targets. Over the past decade, a variety of non-physician cadres, such as nurse-midwives, clinical officers, and medical assistants, have contributed to growing evidence of task sharing’s positive contributions to HIV health outcomes in resource-limited settings.

Program Highlights

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Human Resources for Health

The effective diagnosis, care, and treatment of infectious diseases require a skilled and motivated health care workforce, and sustainable systems to educate and train those workers. I-TECH uses a systemic approach to build the skills and knowledge of, and foster attitude changes in, health care staff and those who train and educate them.

The following model outlines I-TECH’s human resources for health-based approach to achieving comprehensive patient-centered care. Each component of the model, including a strong enabling environment, supports an optimized health workforce as the foundation of an effective service delivery system.

Program Highlights

Health Information Systems in Kenya

In 2012, I-TECH designed and developed an electronic medical records (EMR) system, KenyaEMR, to support the care and treatment of HIV/AIDS. KenyaEMR is built on the OpenMRS platform. I-TECH supported the implementation of KenyaEMR in over 300 health facilities throughout Kenya—one of the largest open source EMR rollouts in Africa ...
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Human Resources for Health in Mozambique

I-TECH’s long engagement with clinician education in Mozambique includes support for improvements to the national undergraduate (“pre-service”) curriculum for laboratory technicians (Técnicos Medio de Laboratório) to make the content more current and reflect the health care priorities of the country, including advances in HIV diagnostics and treatment monitoring. The curriculum ...
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Human Resources for Health in Ukraine

A key focus for I-TECH in Ukraine is strengthening the capacity of local partners to develop and deliver high-quality clinical trainings and expand the supply of skilled health care workers ...
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Improving HIV Care for Key Populations in the Caribbean

Key, at-risk populations in the region include men who have sex with men (MSM), bisexual men, transgender women, and sex workers. In Jamaica, HIV prevalence among MSM was estimated at 32.8%,1 as compared to an estimated prevalence of 1.8% in the general adult population in 2017.1 Among transgender women, the ...
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Tanzania

I-TECH began its work in Tanzania in 2006 at the request of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For over a decade, I-TECH has been providing national-level technical assistance to the National AIDS Control Program (NACP); National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Program (NTLP); Prevention and Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT); Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Program (FELTP); Directorate of Human Resources for Development; Directorate for Nursing and Midwifery; and other departments in the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, so as to strengthen health systems in Tanzania and improve the quality of care provided to patients with HIV/AIDS.

I-TECH Tanzania is directly contributing to the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets through support for implementation of “Treat All” through differentiated HIV service delivery models (SDMs); strengthening of human resources for health and workforce capacity aligned to PEPFAR’s Human Resource for Health Strategy; policy development support; and public health surveillance through strengthening data collection, quality and interpretation at every level of the health system.

Program Highlights

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