AU-PATTEC organized a regional training workshop for French speaking central Africa countries on application of open source GIS in Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis projects in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the AU HQs, from 24- 28 June 2019. The training workshop was attended by participants (data management officers) from Angola, Cameroon, Central Africa, Chad, DRC, Congo-Brazaville, Ethiopia and Gabon who are currently responsible for collecting, organizing, and analyzing and map preparation of T&T data for PATTEC projects. Dr. Gift Wanda,

During the training session, participants made presentations to share the current use of GIS in their programmes and how best they use the tool in their daily activities. Discussions were made before the formal course started. In PATTEC projects, GIS and Remote Sensing tools are widely applied as they help to understand the spatial and temporal distribution of the vector (to learn about the status of the study area before the project intervention), to study the status of trypanosomosis prevalence in the intervention areas, to select intervention techniques and plan intervention operations, to assist monitoring and evaluation activities, etc. Furthermore, the tool can be used to study and identify environmental, ecological and socioeconomic factors contributing to the vector control activities in the intervention areas by providing techniques to assess geographic indicators. The tool helps member states to effectively utilize available resources and enhance efficiency in T&T project implementation.
Mr. Girma Urgeacha, AU-PATTEC GIS/Database Specialist and Mr. Serdebeogo Oumarou from Burkina Faso were resource persons during the training workshop.

Training workshop on Application of Open Source Geographic Information System (GIS) in Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis projects, Addis Ababa, 24- 28 June 2019