The
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health will lead
a five-year initiative to strengthen
the capacity of public health schools in
East Africa. Work will begin initially
with Makerere University in Uganda and
Muhimbili College of Health Sciences in
Tanzania. The goal of the initiative is to
create and sustain a network of trained
public health professionals to provide
leadership to the entire region. Initial
funding for programs comes from a $2 million
grant from the United States Agency
for International Development through
Higher Education for Development.
"Africa faces many public health challenges,
from AIDS to malaria to poor
nutrition. As African nations receive
more global assistance, including the $9
billion President's Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief and $1.2 billion from the
President's Malaria Initiative, there is a
critical need for trained personnel who can
provide leadership and develop innovative
national policy," said Gilbert Burnham,
director of the initiative and professor of
international health at the Bloomberg
School. "Africa has a shortage of public
health personnel who can coordinate and
implement these projects, monitor their
progress and carry out the research needed
to make them more effective."
Uganda and Tanzania, he said, have
established excellent public health schools.
"Our aim is to strengthen their capabilities
for developing faculty and training students,
not only in the two countries but regionally
as well," he said. "The increasing convergence
of administrative structures among
the East African states offers an unprecedented
opportunity to develop common
regional approaches toward public health
leadership and training approaches."
As part of the initiative, the Bloomberg
School and partners from the Tulane University
School of Public Health and the
George Washington University School of
Public Policy and Public Administration
will help develop a common leadership
curriculum for the African public health
schools. Building a public health network
among faculty, students, practitioners and
policy-makers will help develop a strong
commitment to the public health agenda
through the East Africa region, Burnham
said. To keep skills current and to build
leadership capacities, the initiative will
focus on short training courses for midand
senior-level health managers.
In addition to traditional classroom
courses, curriculum will be available
online, as will free course materials
through the Bloomberg School's Open-
CourseWare site. The Internet will also be
a key component for networking schools
of public health in Africa to discuss common
issues and exchange experiences and
ideas between faculties and students.
To improve teaching capacities, Johns
Hopkins and Tulane will also offer academic
development programs for public
health faculty at Makerere University and
Muhimbili College of Health Sciences.
"The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School
of Public Health has worked in partnership
with the Ugandan and Tanzanian
public health schools from their earliest
days," Burnham said. "This now is an
exciting new opportunity to help the two
schools build a public health leadership
capacity, not only to help the people of
the two countries but in the neighboring
countries of Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi,
Ethiopia and Eritrea."