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US funded medical initiative builds Zim's public health capacity
US
Embassy
February 11, 2013
The United States,
through the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) implemented
by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC- Zimbabwe)
is set to produce its first graduates in applied epidemiology in
Zimbabwe. Twenty students from the University
of Zimbabwe's Department of Community Medicine presented
results of their fieldwork on disease surveillance and outbreak-responses
on Friday.
The program,
designed to train and retain health care workers and improve Zimbabwe's
capacity to deliver primary health care, received funding support
from the CDC-Zimbabwe in 2011.
"Training
medical students in core public health skills are critical to ensuring
a healthy nation over the long run. CDC is very pleased to partner
with UZ in strengthening these students' capacity to conduct
disease surveillance, data analysis, and outbreak control,"
said Peter Kilmarx, Director of the CDC-Zimbabwe who witnessed the
presentations.
The students
completed the pilot elective in applied epidemiology and presented
their surveillance system descriptions and data analyses. "Pre-service
elective for 4th year medical students and district medical officers
(DMOs) trainings provide the missing pieces in the public health
capacity building puzzle," said Professor Mufuta Tshimanga,
head of the Zimbabwe Field Epidemiology Training Programme (ZIMFETP).
He added: "With this we now anticipate, more than ever, an
increased demand for further public health training by medical graduates."
Candidates
to the training are identified and selected by the Ministry of Health.
The epidemiology curricula and field exercises are integrated into
the standard coursework is developed by MEPI-supported UZ and the
ZIMFETP.
In addition
to medical students, CDC-Zimbabwe has in the past partnered the
UZ and government health departments to provide district medical
officers with hands-on public health experience in gathering data
for decision making, managing outbreaks, and conducting surveillance
and response. The training is designed to enhance critical public
health competency and to improve public health management including
surveillance and response capacity at the district level by targeting
individuals who will charged with managing the country's public
health programs.
The U.S. government, through PEPFAR and various agencies including
CDC-Zimbabwe and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),
provides broad support for Zimbabwe to address HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria,
and other health challenges. Among other goals, part of the intervention
strategy this strategy has provided capacity building support to
the Zimbabwean health sector to improve leadership and effectiveness
in addressing HIV. The goal is to encourage Zimbabweans at all levels
of society to take ownership of both the epidemic and the response,
using approaches that include developing innovative, evidence-based
program models and tools to ensure that the latest research and
lessons learned are developed in Zimbabwe.
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