For Africa to address the rising burden of diseases and ensure healthy lives and well-being for all at all ages as proposed in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, strong public health research capacity must be at the core of the continent’s agenda.
To achieve this, the continent must reposition itself in the area of research capacity strengthening and encourage all efforts that strive to promote the growth and development of African researchers. African governments, universities and research institutions must promote synergies in matters of academic programs and research, if we are to tackle the health burden imposed by poverty and weak health systems.
Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi, Director of Research at APHRC, Prof. Emmanuel Bellon, Senior Advisor to the Training Programs at APHRC, Dr. Simatei, Dean School of Arts and Social Sciences at Moi University, and Dr. Jamin Masinde from Moi University look on as Dr. Alex Ezeh and Prof. Richard Mibey sign the MOU
In response to this urgent need, a memorandum of understating (MOU) bringing together five institutions – APHRC; Moi University; The University of Gothenburg, Sweden; Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development, Netherlands; and the University of Warwick, United Kingdom – was signed today by APHRC’s Executive Director, Dr. Alex Ezeh, and Prof. Richard Mibey, Vice Chancellor, Moi University. The event took place at the APHRC Campus in Kitisuru.
This unique partnership will look to provide merit-based scholarships to Africans seeking careers in health research, urban health, and research and evaluation methodology. The post-graduate courses will draw students from across the continent on a competitive basis and train them around issues relevant to Africa but not currently implemented in the national universities.
According to Dr. Alex Ezeh, “the course will provide the types of skills people need to create new knowledge in Africa, addressing our key challenges and knowing that majority of our population shall be in urban areas, and specifically in slums.” Dr. Ezeh emphasised that “we need people that will be skilled to work in those areas to generate knowledge, develop policies and improve health.”
Prof. Mibey stated that Moi University was proud to be working with people making a great impact in Kenya. He believes that “what is making Africa not grow is that we do not know what we have,” adding that “the strong combination of the five institutions in this partnership will do great things for our continent.”
The partnership is envisaged to benefit from APHRC’s rich research source drawn from over 52 researchers across the continent.