The West Africa-Michigan CHARTER in GEOHealth: The Role of ICT
Transcript of The West Africa-Michigan CHARTER in GEOHealth: The Role of ICT
The West Africa-Michigan CHARTER
in GEOHealth: The Role of ICT
Julius Fobil
GEOHealth #1 - Intro
• Hubs of Interdisciplinary Research and Training in
Global Environmental and Occupational Health (GEOHealth)
• 5 year grant
• $600K/yr of which >50% goes to LMIC Partner
• Grant awarded late September 2015
GEOHealth #2 - Intro
• North American Institutions
– University of Michigan - USA
– McGill University - Canada
• LMIC Institutions – University of Ghana - Ghana
– KNUST – Ghana
– University of Ibadan – Nigeria
– University of Abomey, Cotonou – Benin
– University of Ouagadougou – Burkina Faso
– Felix Houphoeht Boigny – Cote d’Ivoire
– Cheikh Anta Diop University - Senegal
Anglophone
Francophone
GEOHealth #3 - Intro
• Paired awards:
• U01- Research residing primarily in, and required to be under the leadership of, low and middle income country (LMIC) institution
• U2R- Research Training led by US partner, and closely linked to (and synergistic with) U01
Global: GEOHealth Hubs #1
Slide from Christine Jessup, NIH Fogarty
Global: GEOHealth Hubs #2
Slide from Christine Jessup, NIH Fogarty
Global: GEOHealth Hubs #3
Christine Jessup, NIH Fogarty
GEOHealth WA Configuration
Connecting is Key
To strengthen EOH research capacity in West Africa, we
recognize that a truly regional strategy needs to consider the
history and geopolitical landscape of the region, and thus
needs to link Francophone and Anglophone countries
- Cotonou (Feb 2014): the attendance of GEOHealth PIs at the
COPEH-WCA Mtg
- Accra (Apr 2014): 2-day GEOHealth planning meeting held in Accra,
Ghana which brought together senior scientists from five countries
from across Africa (Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Benin, South Africa)
- Montreal (Aug 2014): meeting of representatives of these same
countries as well as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Senegal in Montréal to
discuss further integration of GEOHealth and Eco-Health activities in
West Africa.
- Cotonou (Mar 2015): current gathering here
Connecting is Key (cont’d)
COPEH-WCA initiative and GEOHealth mutually reinforce
each other
- COPEH-WCA has developed linkages across
Francophone countries; GEOHealth forming linkages
across Anglophone countries
- Both firmly recognize the need to overcome language
barriers to accelerate research and training
- COPEH-WCA focuses on training PhD students;
GEOHealth focused on MSc and Postdoctoral fellows
(note, we can offer postdoc opportunities as well as
English-based training opportunities)
- COPEH-WCA pursuing a multi-city (Abidjan, Cotonou,
Dakar, Ouagadougou and Senegal) urban air pollution study
in (similar site to be set-up in Accra)
Informal Sector – Unifying Theme
• EOH threats associated with the informal sector of the
economies of countries in West Africa region • Majority of workers; fast growth rate • Pervasive EOH hazards but undocumented • Since unaddressed, relatively simple solutions (e.g.,
education; technology) may exist compared to formalized sector
• Sustainable solutions will require multidisciplinary teams and consortia of partners (across sectors; countries)
AIM #1-Research Studies
Specific Aim 1A. Focuses primarily on: electronic waste
worker-health and to a lesser extent on: transportation-
related ambient air pollution and informal gold mining.
Specific Aim 1B: Execute these studies so as to assure that
they are carefully mentored, interactive participation of
trainees at various levels (post-docs, doctoral students, etc.)
from multiple complementary disciplines in all study stages
(conceptualization; design; detailed protocol; data collection,
management, and analysis; manuscript preparation, etc.).
Focused EOH Topics
-Topics lend themselves to interdisciplinarity
- lessons learned in one region inform another (scale-up
potential)
-we have strong foundation record; can leverage expertise
-relevant to science, policy, and people
-
E-Waste Activities (Primary)
-UNEP 2014 report concludes West Africa is one of
world’s most significant e-waste hubs; our work in
Accra amongst the most intense
- Project ideas for interdisciplinary teams
(students/Faculty; countries, etc) in Ghana and
elsewhere:
-life cycle assessment to characterize materials flows
-demographic health survey of outlying region
-longitudinal study of workers (injuries, exposures)
-integrated assessment to bring together scientists +
policy makers
Informal Gold Mining (ASGM)
- 2 million miners + 20 million community members
in West Africa face many EOH threats
- UNEP Minamata Convention to address now
- Focused studies in Ghana for 6 years: - 6 Ghanaian postdocs trained
- 30+ Ghanaian researchers linked across sectors
- 18 publications in a special journal issue
- Policy and response options being shared
- Exposure assessment, occupational injuries,
ecological contamination, etc.
- Expand this Integrated Assessment model
across West Africa
Transportation-related Air Pollution
- EcoHealth Chair has launched a series of urban
air pollution studies across Francophone West
African cities
- Propose to set-up a site in Accra that links and
mirrors the COPEH-AOC efforts
- Leverage great expertise at U-M and McGill in
air pollution research
Aim #2A – Training Programs
Specific Aim 2A. Strengthening of existing, and
launching of new, Masters and doctoral EOH
research training programs through a combination
of: i) sharing of existing curricula; ii) cross-country
curriculum development workshops; iii) consultation
by faculty from well-established degree programs to
new or recently launched programs.
* new MSc Program at UG; planned PhD
* ITREOH SADC experience
Aim #2B – Training Postdocs
Specific Aim 2B. Enhancing training of West African
postdoctoral fellows organized into interdisciplinary,
intercountry project teams spending 4 months on the UM
or McGill campus, followed by 6 months in WA home
countries executing research projects in the informal sector.
The months at UM/McGill will include: i) mentoring by teams
of NA and WA senior scientists; ii) courses in the responsible
conduct of research, interdisciplinary research, advanced
statistical methods, scientific writing, and use of technology
and information resources; iii) auditing courses; iv)
presentations on planned research projects.
* PARTNER GRANT
Aim #2C&D - Training
Specific Aim 2C. Implement innovations in
mentoring and team-building. A key innovation will
be WA senior scientists will reside on the
UM/McGill campus for the 1st two months the
postdoctoral teams are there.
Specific Aim 2D. Offer similar training at UM/McGill
for WA doctoral students teams.
Additional noteworthy partnerships
SOUTH-SOUTH
- academics from two universities in South Africa (UCT and
UKZN) with a rich history of regional capacity building in
EOH
- "South-South” connection is expected to be particularly
advantageous for capacity development in view of the
many similarities of challenges in these two SSA regions
McGill / Montreal
- Montreal is bilingual city with 4 universities; McGill has
long record of collaboration across West Africa,
particularly in EOH
- UQAM (Johanne Saint-Charles & COPEH-Canada)
- Can provide bilingual training opportunities
GEOHealth Africa – Specific Topics
REFLECTIONS ON BUILDING SUSTAINABLE PARTNERSHIPS FOR REGIONAL HUBS IN
GEOHEALTH
• Key areas needing consideration
• Trust
• New “culture”
• Capacity Strengthening
• Ensuring Longevity
Partnership Formation
• Trust is the KEY to success; requires time and ongoing interactions
OUR EXPERIENCES:
• Build upon almost 20 years of continuous NIH funded OEH research and capacity building in SSA
• Practice regional strategy for strengthening OEH
• Building upon depth, strength, long-standing ties and trust of institutions involved (Ghana: U-G, MOH, KNUST; Regional: Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali)
• International: Michigan, McGill, Denmark, Germany
Trust
• Development of Charter which all parties agree upon
Trust
• How to ensure a critical mass of OEH researchers in-country/region? Brain-drain?
OUR EXPERIENCES:
• Promote confidence and visibility of South partners to lead and drive the work
• OEH in SADC & in Ghana set the stage
• PARTNER I and II grants (29 postdocs; 6 OEH-focused postdocs; senior mentors)
• ASGM (25+ in-country researchers) – mature
• e-Wastes research activities (5+ faculty) - seedling
New “Culture”
Electronic Health Information and Surveillance System - eHISS
Concept & Pilot:
Establishment of a mobile-phone based electronic Health Information and Surveillance System (eHISS) in sub-Saharan Africa.
Other Projects
To provide tailor-made health information for sick individuals after answering several sequential questions through an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system.
The Unique Role of ICT
• In resource-poor settings, ICT can provide life-
saving health information (WHO, 2011, 2012).
• With appropriately designed electronic health (eHealth) systems, even unprivileged and illiterate individuals can obtain valuable actual information on prevention/treatment of acute diseases (Brinkel et al., 2014).
• However, most eHealth techniques are unidirectional and available to health-care workers only (Brinkel et al., 2014).
GEOHealth West Africa Team
Thank you for your attention
Contact: [email protected]