LENNY GITUNDU

As a key member of the Country Engagement Team at the Eastern Africa Regional Coordinating Center, I provide technical assistance, collaboration, and coordination to the Ministry of Health, the Rwanda Biomedical Center, implementing partners, and other stakeholders for the implementation of activities supported by the Africa CDC.

In this role, I work closely with the Africa CDC's Eastern regional director to ensure the optimal positioning of the Africa CDC mandate in safeguarding Africa's health security by effectively articulating and executing Africa CDC's strategic plan within the country.

Key responsibilities and achievements under this role include;

Provision of strategic direction and execution of In-country activities in line with the Member state health sector and Africa CDC's strategic plan. This was to primarily position Africa CDC as a key stakeholder in the global health security space in the country. Key highlights include:

• Assessing and strengthening member states international health regulations core capacities through provision of technical support in state parties self - assessment (SPAR), preparation for the 2nd Joint external evaluation (JEE), application for the Rwanda pandemic fund, Point of Entry assessment and SOP development and the development and validation of the public health emergency operations handbook.
• Providing technical assistance during public health emergencies. Currently supporting Mpox outbreak response in Rwanda, through technical support in development of 6 months mpox incident action plan, mpox management plan and national EOC support.

Maintained oversight of Africa CDC in-country programs. I Oversaw and provided technical assistance for the successful execution of the 1st phase of the Saving Lives and Livelihood program in Rwanda and Somalia. key highlights were:

• In Rwanda, program performance was among the best, through use of strategies like the school based vaccination , interpersonal communication and capitalizing bus parks as vaccination centers. this led to 242% program performance.
• In Somalia, program vaccinated more than 180,000 people, developed the pharmacovigilance guidelines, created and printed AEFI tools, and capacity building of MoH staff on vaccine management.

Established strong relationships with MoH / RBC partners, fostering a network of support for future collaborations. Key achievements include: Stakeholder mapping, delineation of their key roles and engagements for effective collaboration's, formation and leading of programme implementing teams and membership in several technical working groups like the pandemic fund proposal and Cholera elimination

Provided strategic leadership of the Africa CDC in-country teams and ensured activities were executed in line with the Africa CDC strategic plan. Key highlights are execution of approximately 70% of the In-country annual work-plan, facilitated and received feedback on ~ 96% of communications from HQ and RCC and

Under the county government, part of the senior county referral hospital administration and as the head of the surgical departmental, I provided administrative, leadership and technical guidance. Specific roles and achievements included:

• Led interdisciplinary team meetings, fostering a collaborative approach to patient care and promoting open communication among all team members.
• Trained residents, medical doctors, interns, nurses and community health care workers on current practices, patient care and community engagement.
• Provided Strategic leadership through provision of clear vision to the department, leading professional development of the team through CME, drill exercises and simulations
• Led contingency planning, practice and implementation for mass casualty event, and supported emergency responses to the military during cattle rustling events in the region
• Provided technical assistance during the COVID – 19 response in Kenya as part of the county incident management team, I was able to facilitate policy formulation, execution and programming for a timely and effective response to COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine roll-out in the county.
• Provided compassionate pre-and post-operative care, ensuring patients felt informed about their treatment options and confident in their decisions.
• Enhanced patient outcomes by employing advanced surgical techniques and adhering to evidence-based practices.
• Developed personalized care plans for patients, taking into account individual needs and preferences.
• Contributed to hospital quality improvement initiatives through active participation in committees and task forces.
• Collaborated with multidisciplinary teams to optimize patient care and streamline treatment plans.
• Made informed decisions of therapeutic intervention based on patient information and preferences, up-to-date scientific evidence and clinical judgment.
• Counseled patients on preventive healthcare, discussing proper nutrition, hygiene, and exercise.
• Performed preventive and elective surgeries.
• Corrected physical deformities, readjusted broken bones, and repaired tissue injuries.
• Implemented best practices for infection control, minimizing risk of postoperative infections among patients.
• Developed streamlined processes for surgical scheduling, reducing wait times for both elective procedures during emergency situations.
• Performed regular rounds to check on patients' following surgery, discuss patient condition and coordinate care.

As a medical superintendent in the sub-county referral hospital, and as the head medical officer in the sub-county, I provided administrative and leadership responsibilities in the region, which has a predominantly arid and semi – arid climatic conditions, high poverty levels and low literacy rates, presenting complex health challenges.

Primarily provided guidance in strategic development and execution and supported stakeholders and relationship management. Key responsibilities and achievements under this role include building mutually beneficial partnerships and relations to implement projects in the hospital. Key roles, responsibilities and achievements were:

• Working with multiple partners, we were able plan and implement several projects. This include a maternity theatre complex worth 12.5 million Ksh through the Safaricom foundation and equipping via 8 million support from the World bank. A NTD treatment center for visceral leishmaniasis by the Izumi foundation.
• Conducted surveillance of priority diseases, outbreak management and heath data analysis while working closely with the county epidemiology and disease control unit. this included active case search for NTDs, VPDs and other priority diseases.
• Actively participated in engaging and gathering feedback from the community for health promotion through community and stakeholder engagements. This was impactful for snake bites, malnutrition and FP services which saw an increase in demand.
• Carried out clinical and technical responsibilities, key being TB and HIV treatment oversight and active defaulter tracing. This augmented with food provision increased uptake and reduced defaulters in the treatment program
• Developed emergency preparedness and response plans. While working closely with county team's, we did disaster planning especially for gunshot injuries experienced in the regions.
• Coordination and collaborated with other governmental department e.g. Schools, Military, NGO's and private sectors for health promotion and response key being response to banditry attack (cattle rustlers)
• Oversaw general and performance management of staff – Under my lead, I oversaw doctors, nurses, clinical officers, nutritionist, community health care worker and social workers. Key achievement was reducing unauthorized absence and undertook rehabilitation of an alcoholic nurse.

Was a team member of the African Union Support for Ebola Outbreak in West Africa (ASEOWA). As the team lead in the clinical pillar in the emergency response operations, main roles were lead clinical operations management and support strategic planning of the response. Key achievements in this roles were:

• Took part in the strategic planning of the clinical response strategies based on outbreak status, and determine allocation and deployment of the clinical resource. key highlights includes; leading the team in the screening and triage at Connaught hospital and were among the first to support return of routine activities in the general wards. We also undertook clinical activities at the Lakka treatment unit for suspected and confirmed cases.
• As the team doctor, monitored status of the team members and responded to emergencies. Key highlight include; overseeing clinical care and airlift of one of the team members back to Kenya.
• Working closely with the contingent team lead, we established staffing needs of the clinical personnel and ensured they had adequate training to accomplish their goals.
• Developed clinical reports on incidents, patient care activities, resource utilization and clinical outcomes of patients and the staff.

As part of the clinical team in the referral hospital, I had the following key roles and responsibilities:

• Improved patient outcomes and delivery of care through routine, emergency and specialized patient care. Assisted senior physicians and surgeons during assessments, examinations and surgical interventions.
• Administrative and management responsibilities through supporting the hospital administrator in departmental management, policy and protocol implementations.
• Oversaw quality assurances by participating in clinical audits and performance evaluations.
• Participated in teaching and mentorship through planning, conducting and attending continuous medical education sessions to the medical interns, nursing students and community health care workers.
• Contributed to public health and community outreach through community outreaches and education campaigns for health promotion.