Capacity
Education & Training
Building Healthcare Capacity Across Africa
Lasting improvements in child health depend on more than providing excellent clinical care—they require skilled healthcare professionals who can lead, teach, and strengthen healthcare systems for generations to come.
ICHA equips doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals with the knowledge, practical skills, mentorship, and resources they need to deliver high-quality, evidence-based care for newborns and children.
Through education, clinical training, leadership development, and strategic partnerships, we are helping build a stronger healthcare workforce across Tanzania and sub-Saharan Africa.
Our two CAPACITY focused Signature Initiatives
Tiny Feet Big Steps Neonatology Conferences
Advancing Care of Critically Ill and Premature Babies in Africa
Africa’s largest clinical neonatology conference
Tiny Feet Big Steps brings together physicians, nurses, and neonatal healthcare professionals from across Africa for a week of practical, evidence-based education focused on caring for critically ill and premature newborns.
Our mission is simple: equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge, skills, and resources to help more babies survive—and thrive.
Every Breath Counts
ICHA developed Every Breath Counts: Manual of Neonatal Care & Drug Doses to provide healthcare professionals with a practical, evidence-based resource designed specifically for the realities of neonatal care in low-resource settings. Written by clinicians with extensive experience caring for newborns in Africa, the manual serves as both a bedside reference and a comprehensive educational resource.
Expanding Access to Learning
ICHA is committed to making high-quality neonatal education available to even more healthcare professionals by:
- Continuously updating the 440-page Every Breath Counts manual to reflect current evidence and best practices.
- Developing a mobile learning app that provides convenient, on-demand access to neonatal education.
- Translating the manual into multiple languages to support clinicians throughout Africa and other regions where Tiny Feet Big Steps conferences are held.
- Creating interactive learning modules and certification pathways that help healthcare professionals strengthen their knowledge and demonstrate clinical competency.
By combining practical clinical experience with accessible educational resources, ICHA is helping equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge and confidence they need to improve newborn survival and deliver better care for every child.
If you, or your institution, are interested in supporting the distribution of Every Breath Counts please contact stephanie@ichafrica.org
Other Education & Training (Capacity) Priorities
Bedside Clinical Training & Mentorship
By working alongside physicians, nurses, and clinical teams in our NICU and in other hospitals, we help translate evidence-based medicine into everyday practice.
Community Health Education
We are developing practical, culturally appropriate community education programs that will equip families and caregivers with the knowledge to support healthy pregnancies, newborns, and children through nutrition, early childhood development, and the recognition of danger signs. These programs will be delivered in both urban and rural communities using accessible, locally relevant approaches, including small-group “Under the Tree” education sessions.
Curriculum Development & Accreditation
As part of our long-term strategy, ICHA is planning the development of evidence-based curricula, accreditation pathways, and educational quality standards that will strengthen neonatal and pediatric education across Tanzania and sub-Saharan Africa. Working with healthcare institutions, professional organizations, universities, and the Ministry of Health, we aim to build strategic partnerships, establish a Neonatal & Pediatric Nursing Specialty Program, and develop continuous quality improvement systems that help prepare a skilled healthcare workforce and ensure high standards of education for years to come.