The World Health Organization (WHO) Foundation, in partnership with Laerdal Global Health, has announced $12.5m to enhance Basic Emergency Care (BEC) training in 400 hospitals across three African countries.

This initiative aims to improve ongoing workplace-based training through specially designed kits.

The collaboration has also established Lifeline: the Acute Care Action Fund, a consortium that is actively seeking additional partners to raise a total of $25m to expand the training to 1,000 hospitals in at least five countries.

This is projected to save approximately 50,000 lives annually.

WHO Foundation chair Thomas Zeltner said: “This generous and timely contribution from Laerdal Global Health supports the WHO’s vital work at a time when funding for global health is under threat.

“We now invite others to join Lifeline: the Acute Care Action Fund to support the scale-up of the BEC programme across the region and beyond, including in humanitarian settings, saving millions of lives.”

The BEC programme, developed in 2016 by the WHO in partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation for Emergency Medicine, has trained several health workers across over 60 countries.

Research has shown that implementing the BEC programme in first-level hospitals in Africa and Asia can lead to a 34% to 50% reduction in mortality from acute conditions, such as road injuries, pneumonia, diabetic crises, and post-partum haemorrhage.

Laerdal Global Health founder Tore Laerdal said: “We know that the BEC programme can reduce mortality from a range of acute conditions by up to 50%. 

“We have been privileged to collaborate with WHO, the International Federation for Emergency Medicine, and the International Committee of the Red Cross in developing a new course model that uses simpler and much more affordable training materials, enabling ongoing refresher sessions at each hospital.”