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ABOUT US
| Vision, Mission, Objectives | History | Accomplishments and Future Plans |
| Organisation | Board Members | Advisory Committee |
| Secretariat Staff | Financial Management | Constitution |
Accomplishments
We have provided technical assistance to a number of African countries including Tanzania, Nigeria and Francophone West Africa (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Togo) to develop their FELTPs.
AFENET has supported trainee projects to improve childhood immunisation coverage in Africa. Through this project we have provided small grants on a competitive basis to trainees in our member programs to undertake demonstration projects.
AFENET has renovated and equipped the National Bacteriology Reference Laboratory for the Kenya Ministry of Health.
We have developed a curriculum of training materials for an in-service laboratory course to enhance the laboratory management and disease surveillance skills of Public Health Laboratorians in the African region. We have so far trained 20 in Uganda, 18 in Zimbabwe, and 22 in Tanzania.
We have investigated and responded to the following Outbreaks:
Plague, Marburg and Ebola in Uganda; Aflatoxin in Kenya; RVF in Kenya and Tanzania; Meningitis in Ghana, Sudan, and Uganda; Cholera in Zimbabwe.
The FETPs have trained hundreds of epidemiologists and public health experts that have made a major contribution to public health within their countries and regions.
Graduates have played a central role in disease control, and in the design, implementation and evaluation of various programs including EPI programs, malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. Alumni have risen to top leadership positions in Ministries of Health, non-governmental organizations, and other health agencies.
Alumni have collaborated across countries to set up cross border surveillance systems that have helped to check the transmission of diseases and promoted the enforcement of the International Health Regulations.
Future Plans
The success of the programs has precipitated demand for field epidemiologists and public health specialists trained through this model in other African countries. For example, South Africa has started an FELTP in January 2007, and Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Tanzania have expressed interest in beginning their own FELTPs.
AFENET is now seen as the mechanism through which applied epidemiology capacity will be expanded and strengthened in Africa.