Africa: Higher Learning Institutions Receive Medical Education Grants

By Eric Sande

Washington--- US$130 million has been set aside by the United States in partnership with the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR),  to transform African medical education and increase the number of health care workers on the continent over the next five years. This announcement was made October 7 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Grants recipients are African institutions in  twelve countries which include the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, the University of Botswana, the University of Nairobi in Kenya, the University of Malawi College of Medicine, Universida de Eduardo Mondlane in Mozambique, the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Stellenbosch University in South Africa, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Tanzania, Makerere University in Uganda, the University of Zambia and the University of Zimbabwe. This is under its Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI), which works with U.S. medical schools and universities to form a network that includes about 30 regional partners, country health and education ministries, and more than 20 U.S. collaborators.

“Non communicable diseases, such as maternal-child health issues, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mental illness, represent the fastest-growing causes of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa,” said National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins. “We at NIH are delighted to join hands with our colleagues in PEPFAR to help build research and clinical capacity in these important areas of human health.”

140,000 new health care workers are set to benefit from this programme and ability of partner countries to deliver primary health care is to be boosted. This is under the PEPFAR’s goals.

Eight minor non-HIV/AIDS awards, funded by NIH, will encourage the development of expertise in topics such as maternal and child health, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, mental health, surgery and emergency medicine. Meanwhile eleven major awards, largely funded by PEPFAR, will expand and enhance medical education and research training in the field of HIV/AIDS.

MEPI intends to provide up to US$10 million for each programmatic award over a five-year period, up to US$2.5 million for each linked project and up to US$1.25 million for each pilot grant.