Addressing the Challenges of Underdevelopment in Environmental and Occupational Health in Southern Africa

Abstract

Since 1996, the University of Michigan's Fogarty International Center training and research program in Environmental and Occupational Health (EOH) in Southern Africa has contributed to capacity development in the 14 countries of the Southern African Development Community. Methods include training citizens from the region in master's, doctoral, and short-term focused programs; assisting the development of graduate programs in EOH at institutions, developing resources for distance-based degree programs; direct support ofjunior and mid-level researchers, and organizing regional short courses and regional conferences. Substantial EOH resources now present in South Africa are leveraged to assist capacity development in the rest of the region. The program's successes appear to be due to strong regional leadership and oversight structures, a strategy of developing EOH resource centers in several countries, and close collaboration with other regional and international EOH programs.