GEOHealth Hub Colombia: achievements and challenges of an environmental and occupational health collaboration initiative

Abstract

The Global Environmental and Occupational (GEO) Health Hub Colombia is a collaboration initiative between academics and professionals from public and private institutions. The objective of this initiative is to promote high quality research, training, and discussion around fundamental topics of environmental and occupational health in the country, and to provide advice for the formulation of sound policies regarding high-priority environmental and occupational health threats.The GEOHealth Hub Colombia began in 2012 as a bi-national project between Colombia and the United States, funded under the GEOHealth program of the National Health Institute / Fogarty International Center. The project identified environmental and occupational health experts in the country, who contributed to identify research and training needs in this area. Since 2015 the GEOHealth Hub Colombia has been working to promote collaborative research between different regions of the country and internationally. One of the main achievements has been to scale up local problemas to the national level and develop multicity research projects, including activities of Colombian peace process related with socioenvironmental topics. Recently, the GEO Health Hub Colombia was awarded the first and only environmental health research program funded by the Colombian Government. The program will be conducted with the collaboration of 10 local universities, regional and national health and environmental authorities, and academic institutions from Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. The main challenge of the research collaboration is the lack of a common platform for exchanging data, ideas, discussions, and to provide information to the different audiences: academics, policy makers, and community.The GEOHealth Hub Colombia also has generated discussion spaces and position public documents related to environmental threats, such us the use of aerial spray of glyphosate to eliminate illicit crops in rural areas. In this regard, support of international societies is needed to face GEO threats in developing countries.