The future of public health doctoral education in Africa: transforming higher education institutions to enhance research and practice

Justine Bukenya; Derege Kebede; Henry Mwambi; Muhammed Pate; Philip Adongo; Yemane Berhane; Chelsey R Canavan; Tobias Chirwa; Olufunmilayo I Fawole; David Guwatudde; Elizabeth Jackson; Isabel Madzorera; Mosa Moshabela; Ayoade M J Oduola; Bruno Sunguya; Amadou Sall; Tajudeen Raji; Wafaie Fawzi; ARISE Public Health Education Team

doi:10.1016/S2468-2667(24)00056-2

The future of public health doctoral education in Africa: transforming higher education institutions to enhance research and practice

Lancet Public Health. 2024 May 9:S2468-2667(24)00056-2. doi: 10.1016/S2468-2667(24)00056-2. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Justine Bukenya¹, Derege Kebede², Henry Mwambi³, Muhammed Pate⁴, Philip Adongo⁵, Yemane Berhane⁶, Chelsey R Canavan⁴, Tobias Chirwa⁷, Olufunmilayo I Fawole⁸, David Guwatudde⁹, Elizabeth Jackson⁴, Isabel Madzorera⁴, Mosa Moshabela¹⁰, Ayoade M J Oduola¹¹, Bruno Sunguya¹², Amadou Sall¹³, Tajudeen Raji¹⁴, Wafaie Fawzi¹⁵; ARISE Public Health Education Team

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. Electronic address: jbukenya@musph.ac.ug.
² School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
³ School of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, Durban, South Africa.
⁴ Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
⁵ School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana; Association of Schools of Public Health in Africa, Accra, Ghana.
⁶ Addis Continental Institute of Public Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
⁷ School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
⁸ Faculty of Public Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
⁹ School of Public Health, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
¹⁰ Vice Chancellor's Office, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
¹¹ University of Ibadan Research Foundation, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
¹² Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
¹³ Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.
¹⁴ Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
¹⁵ Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: mina@hsph.harvard.edu.

PMID: 38735302
DOI: 10.1016/S2468-2667(24)00056-2

Abstract

The African Union and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a Call to Action in 2022 for Africa's New Public Health Order that underscored the need for increased capacity in the public health workforce. Additional domestic and global investments in public health workforce development are central to achieving the aspirations of Agenda 2063 of the African Union, which aims to build and accelerate the implementation of continental frameworks for equitable, people-centred growth and development. Recognising the crucial role of higher education and research, we assessed the capabilities of public health doctoral training in schools and programmes of public health in Africa across three conceptual components: instructional, institutional, and external. Six inter-related and actionable recommendations were derived to advance doctoral training, research, and practice capacity within and between universities. These can be achieved through equitable partnerships between universities, research centres, and national, regional, and global public health institutions.

Publication types

Review