HHS partners with PEPFAR to invest $130M for African medical education

A dozen countries to benefit from $130 million investment to strengthen training

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is partnering with the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) with a plan to invest $130 million over five years to transform African medical education and dramatically increase the number of health care workers.

Through the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI), grants are being awarded directly to African institutions in a dozen countries, working in partnership with U.S. medical schools and universities. The initiative will form a network including about 30 regional partners, country health and education ministries, and more than 20 U.S. collaborators.

The program is designed to support PEPFAR's goals to train and retain 140,000 new health care workers and improve the capacity of partner countries to deliver primary health care.

"We must dramatically transform African medical education to increase the number of qualified care providers available and develop the scientific expertise needed for research and innovation," said Ambassador Eric Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator at the Department of State. "By engaging country health and education ministries, MEPI will strengthen national plans to improve medical instruction and bolster the overall health care delivery systems. As we transition PEPFAR-supported HIV efforts from an emergency response to a more sustainable effort, we need to develop the expertise necessary for evidence-based decision making on the local level. This expertise will empower countries to lead health programs and fulfill their responsibility for the health of their people."

Several components of the National Institutes of Health joined PEPFAR in funding the initiative, which will be administered by Fogarty International Center of the NIH and the HIV/AIDS Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

Eleven programmatic awards, largely funded by PEPFAR, will expand and enhance medical education and research training in the field of HIV/AIDS. Eight smaller non-HIV/AIDS awards, funded by the NIH Director's Common Fund, with additional support from several NIH institutes, will encourage the development of expertise in topics such as maternal and child health, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, mental health, surgery and emergency medicine. Over a five-year period, MEPI intends to provide up to $10 million for each programmatic award, up to $2.5 million for each linked project and up to $1.25 million for each pilot grant.

"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 NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. "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."

A coordinating center is being established to link the African sites and their U.S. partners, leverage shared resources and provide technical expertise. A Web-based platform will be developed to allow all partners to share data and outcomes. The platform will facilitate evaluation and provide a gateway to maximize the initiative's global impact. MEPI will enable participating institutions to strengthen their information technology infrastructure, support distance education and data sharing, and encourage the establishment of clinical registries to inform research and health care decision making on national levels. The coordinating center will also form an African leadership network to guide and advocate for the initiative.

"HRSA's decades of experience working in HIV/AIDS through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program have highlighted the critical need for enhanced medical education and training to provide quality care to people affected by HIV/AIDS in rural and underserved communities. We are proud to collaborate with PEPFAR and NIH to advance medical education in Africa through this initiative, as well as continue supporting the on-going care and treatment and health system strengthening activities," said Mary K. Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N., HRSA administrator.

NIH funding is being provided by the Common Fund, Office of AIDS Research, Office of Research on Women's Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and National Institute of Nursing Research.

Here is the complete list of MEPI awards and collaborating partners:

Programmatic Awards:

Botswana: University of Botswana, in partnership with Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Pennsylvania

• Programmatic Award: Creating Sustainable Medical Education and Health Research Capacity in Botswana

Ethiopia: Addis Ababa University, in partnership with a consortium of Ethiopian medical schools including Hawassa University, Haremaya Universities and the Defense Forces Medical Colleges, as well as Emory University; Johns Hopkins University; the University of California, San Diego and the University of Wisconsin.

• Programmatic Award: Ethiopia's Medical Education Consortium for Quality Medical Education & Retention

Kenya: University of Nairobi, in partnership with the University of Maryland-Baltimore and the University of Washington

• Programmatic Award: Strengthening Medical Education for Improved Health Outcomes in Kenya
• Linked Award: Strengthening Maternal, Newborn & Child Health Research Training in Kenya

Mozambique: Universidade de Eduardo Mondlane, in partnership University of California - San Diego, Universidade Lurio, Universidade Zambeze, the World Health Organization, the Canadian Network for International Surgery and the American College of Surgeons

• Programmatic Award: The Universidade Eduardo Mondlane/ UCSD Medical Education Partnership
• Linked Award: UEM-UC-SD Surgery Partnership

Nigeria: University of Ibadan, in partnership with University of Jos, University of Nigeria, University of Maiduguri, Ahmadu Bello University, University of Lagos, the AIDS Prevention Initiative Nigeria Ltd., Northwestern University and the Harvard School of Public Health

• Programmatic Award: Medical Education Partnership Initiative in Nigeria (MEPIN)

South Africa: University of KwaZulu-Natal, in partnership with Columbia University

• Programmatic Award: Enhancing Training, Research Capacity and Expertise in HIV Care (ENTR-E)

South Africa: Stellenbosch University, in partnership with the University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Makerere University and Johns Hopkins University

• Programmatic Award: Stellenbosch University Rural Medical Education Partnership

Tanzania: Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, in partnership with Duke University School of Medicine

• Programmatic Award: KCMC-Duke Medical Education Partnership Initiative

Uganda: Makerere University, in partnership with Johns Hopkins University, Mbarara University, Kampala International University, Case Western Reserve University, Yale University, Medical Research Council and Uganda Martyrs College

• Programmatic Award: Medical Education for Services to All Ugandans
• Linked Award: Building Capacity for Cardiovascular Research and Training in Uganda

Zambia: University of Zambia, in partnership with Vanderbilt University and University of Alabama-Birmingham

• Programmatic Award: Expanding Innovative Multidisciplinary Medical Education in Zambia
• Linked Award: Improving Maternal and Child Health Through Specialty Training in Zambia

Zimbabwe: University of Zimbabwe, in partnership with the University of Colorado-Denver and Stanford University, the University of Cape Town, University College-London, and King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry

• Programmatic Award: Novel Education Clinical Trainees and Researchers (NECTAR) Program
• Linked Award: Improved Mental Health Education and Research Capacity in Zimbabwe Program
• Linked Award: Cerebrovascular, Heart Failure, Rheumatic Heart Disease Interventions Strategy Initiative

Pilot Grants:

Ghana: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in partnership with University of Michigan, University of Ghana, Ghana Ministry of Health, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, University of Development Studies, Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Ghana Ambulance Service

• Ghana Emergency Medicine Collaborative Training Program

Malawi: Malawi College of Medicine, in partnership with University of North Carolina, University of Cape Town and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health

• HIV-associated Malignancies in Malawi

Coordinating Center: George Washington University, in partnership with the African Center for Global Health and Social Transformation in Kampala, Uganda

• Fostering African Medical Education: Community of Excellence