Praia, Cabo Verde. WHO technical experts convened to advance a training package for health district management teams, with active contributions from Cabo Verde and a strong focus on primary health care, integrated service delivery and progress towards Universal Health Coverage.

The World Health Organization (WHO), Regional Office for Africa, brought together technical experts from across its three levels between 20 and 24 April 2026 in Brazzaville to develop a regional training package for Health District Management Teams in Africa. The WHO Country Office in Cabo Verde actively contributed as a member of the Technical Working Group responsible for developing the training manual.

The meeting aimed to finalise the training manual, ensuring its coherence, relevance and practical applicability through a comprehensive review of its structure, content and core competencies required for effective district-level health management. Over five days, experts reviewed eight competency-based training modules covering governance, leadership, partnerships, planning, resource management, service delivery organisation, monitoring and evaluation, and health security.

Health districts are the level where health systems interface directly with communities and play a central role in delivering primary health care and ensuring integrated, continuous and people-centred services. Strengthening the leadership, planning and management capacities of district managers is therefore essential to improving the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery, and to advancing Universal Health Coverage.

Cabo Verde’s contribution highlighted the importance of ensuring that the training package reflects the realities of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), including geographic dispersion, limited resources and the need for innovative solutions such as digital health and telemedicine to support integrated and continuous care.

This engagement reinforces the commitment of WHO Cabo Verde to strengthening health systems at subnational level, promoting integrated and results-oriented management aligned with Primary Health Care principles and Universal Health Coverage goals.

The next phase will focus on testing the training package in Member States to ensure its adaptation to different contexts and its responsiveness to the operational needs of district health teams.