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ABOUT US
| Vision, Mission, Objectives | History | Accomplishments and Future Plans |
| Overview | Board Members | Advisory Committee |
| Secretariat Staff | Financial Management | Constitution |
Introduction
Created in 2005, the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) is a non-profit organization and networking alliance dedicated to helping Ministries of Health in Africa build strong, effective, sustainable programs and capacity to improve public health systems on the African continent.
Background History
The member programs of AFENET have a 15-year history of collaboration.
What are FETPs and FELTPs?
The Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) and the Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP), which offers an added laboratory component, are applied epidemiology programs that help foreign countries develop, set up, and implement dynamic, cost-effective public health strategies to improve and strengthen their public health system and infrastructure.
FETPs are modeled after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Epidemic Intelligence Service. CDC’s Division of Epidemiology and Surveillance Capacity Development helps countries set up FETPs.
In 1992, Field Epidemiology Training (FETPs) programs were established in Ghana, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, followed in 2004 by the Kenya Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP).
They are currently the only four programs in Sub-Saharan Africa that provide competency-based applied epidemiology training. The programs network, share training materials, staff, and undertake joint projects.
Initial funding for the first three programs was provided by the Rockefeller Foundation. The Kenya FELTP is funded by the Ellison Medical Foundation through the CDC Foundation.
FETPs were first under the auspices of Public Health Schools Without Walls (PHSWOW) , and from 1997 under the umbrella of the Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network (TEPHINET)
Because of their extensive and close collaborations, the four programs decided to form a network similar to TEPHINET, but concentrated on Africa. In 2005, AFENET was formally incorporated as a non-profit organization. The AFENET secretariat staff was established in September 2006 in Kampala, Uganda.