Communicable Diseases is the largest of the 13 Blended Learning Modules for the Ethiopian Health Extension Programme. Together with the practical skills training sessions that accompany each of the supported self-study texts, this programme will upgrade the Health Extension Workers who complete the curriculum to Health Extension Practitioners at Level-IV of the Ethiopian Occupational Standards. The upgrading programme is sponsored by the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and the Regional Health Bureaus (RHBs). The FMOH gratefully acknowledges the receipt of funding for this programme from the Ethiopian Office of UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund), The Open University UK, the Alan and Nesta Ferguson Foundation Trust UK, and AMREF (the African Medical and Research Foundation). We are also thankful for the support of the Ethiopian Offices of Jhpiego and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for freely enabling their experts to participate in the development of this Module.
Communicable Diseases is in four separate Parts and was produced by a team of Ethiopian experts, who were trained and supported by experts in blended learning pedagogy from the HEAT (Health Education and Training) Team for Africa at The Open University UK. The contributors of original material are:
The Academic Editors of Communicable Diseases are Dr Basiro Davey, Deputy Director (Ethiopia), HEAT Team at The Open University UK, Dr Saroj B. Datta, Dr Kerry Murphy, Dr Ignacio Romero and Dr Jeff Thomas, all in the Department of Life Sciences at The Open University UK. The other members of the HEAT Team are:
We acknowledge the vital contributions of the Programme Coordinators within Ethiopia:
The cover design for Communicable Diseases is by Chris Hough, Learning and Teaching Solutions, The Open University UK. The cover photographs are reproduced with the permission of UNICEF Ethiopia, with acknowledgement to Indrias Getachew.
We particularly wish to acknowledge our use in this Module of adapted extracts and illustrations from the following World Health Organization (WHO) sources:
WHO (1991) Basic Malaria Microscopy, Part I: Learner’s Guide, 2nd edition. This document can be found at: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/1991/9241544309.pdf
WHO (1996) Malaria: A Manual for Community Health Workers. This document can be found at: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/1996/9241544910_eng.pdf
WHO (1997) Vector Control Methods for Use by Individuals and Communities. This document can be found at: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/1997/9241544945_eng.pdf
WHO (2005) Pocket Book of Hospital Care for Children: Guidelines for the Management of Common Illnesses with Limited Resources, accessed from http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2005/9241546700.pdf
WHO (2005) Diarrhoea treatment guidelines for clinic-based healthcare workers, accessed from http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2005/a85500.pdf
WHO (2006) How to use a Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT): A guide for training CHWs and other health workers. The Quality Assurance Project (QAP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), Bethesda, MD, and Geneva. This document can be found at: http://www.wpro.who.int/NR/rdonlyres/A5557149-BB4E-4A26-9CBA-996DA92FC8A4/0/RDTgeneric4bgeneric.pdf
WHO (2006) Primary Ear and Hearing Care Training Resource: Trainer’s Manual – Intermediate Level, and Student’s Workbook – Intermediate Level, accessed from http://www.who.int/pbd/deafness/activities/hearing_care/trainer.pdf and http://www.who.int/pbd/deafness/activities/hearing_care/student.pdf
WHO (undated webpage) Acute Respiratory Infections in Children accessed from http://www.who.int/fch/depts/cah/resp_infections/en/
WHO (undated webpage) Prevention of Blindness and Visual Impairment: Priority eye diseases, accessed from http://www.who.int/blindness/causes/priority/en/index2.html
WHO (undated webpages) Neglected tropical diseases, accessed from http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/en/ ; and Neglected zoonotic diseases, accessed from http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/zoonoses/en/
We also particularly wish to acknowledge our use in this Module of adapted extracts and illustrations from the Integrated Management of Adolescent and Adult Illness Guidelines for HIV/AIDS at health centre and primary care level, including Acute Care, Chronic HIV Care with ART and Prevention, General Principles of Good Chronic Care, Palliative Care: Symptom Management and End-of-Life Care, and TB Care with TB-HIV Co-management, WHO, 2007, accessed from http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/imai/en/index.html.
Finally, we particularly wish to acknowledge our use in this Module of adapted extracts and illustrations from the following sources:
Carter Center, 2006, Implementing the SAFE Strategy for Trachoma Control: A Toolbox of Interventions for Promoting Facial Cleanliness and Environmental Improvement, by Paul Emerson and Laura Frost, with Robin Bailey and David Mabey, accessed from http://www.cartercenter.org/documents/2302.pdf
CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Image Library (PHIL),accessed from http://phil.cdc.gov/phil/home.asp ; and the DPDx website on Laboratory Identification of Parasites of Public Health Concern, accessed from http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/default.htm
The opinions expressed in this Module are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of any of the donor organisations whose generous support made the production of Communicable Diseases possible.