MSc EpiBiostat

The recent COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for effective capacity to detect and respond to public health emergencies at different levels, namely global, regional, and country level. The Democratic Republic of Congo, the second largest African country with a population of up to a hundred million people, has been facing disease outbreaks with impacts on health, economy and the well being of communities. Most of these outbreaks start in rural areas with delay on detection where surveillance capacity is weak. Surveillance, preparedness, and response to these emergencies requires the country to have a skilled and well-trained workforce. However, the country still experiences a huge gap in terms of trained epidemiologists. The University of Kinshasa School of Public Health is contributing to closing these gaps. Ten years ago, with support from US CDC and AFENET, it established a field epidemiology and laboratory training programme - the first of its kind in the country. This programme has trained most epidemiologists working at different levels of the health system in the country. However, the need is still very high compared to the population size to be covered. In 2021, the School received a grant from EDCTP to support the government by providing training to a cohort of 15 epidemiologists. Launched the same year, out of more than 100 applications, 15 Fellows were selected for a fully funded Master of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. This three-year project will provide not only training and capacity building, but also networking and mentorship support from experienced epidemiologists. One year later, the Fellows have completed their first semester as well as an internship period of six months. Regarding first semester courses, Fellows were exposed to key modules such as an Introduction to epidemiology, Biostatistics, Disease surveillance, Research methods (including quantitative and qualitative methods), Introduction to One Health, Introduction to public health, and Informatics (data analysis tools). All the Fellows passed their semester examinations and completed the requirements for their first semester before the internship. Regarding the internship, Fellows worked with their mentors who are FELTP alumni to support disease surveillance activities, conduct data analysis and outbreak investigation, which contributed to the health system of the communities covered by their activities. During their internship period, Fellows benefited from the experience of the mentors. Regular meetings with mentors helped Fellows to acquire more from their experiences. For networking activities, Fellows are now part of the EDCTP Alumni Network where they interact with other Fellows across the continent. They also prepared and submitted abstracts to the upcoming Africa Field Epidemiology Conference where they will network with other Fellows trained across the continent.   Fellows have commenced their second year with one semester of classes and one semester of internship. They are expected to complete their studies in 2023 and will be supported by the project for their placement with mentorship and networking activities. They are part of 150 Epi Fellows funded by a partnership between EDCTP and Africa CDC for a €7.5 million initiative to support institutions in Africa and Europe to train a cadre of public health workforce that will boost epidemiological and biostatistical capacity on the African continent through Master's degree programmes in epidemiology and biostatistics. After their training, the Fellows are expected to increase the capacity to respond to public health challenges at the subnational, national, and regional level.