STRENGTHENING PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATION IN RESEARCH & EPIDEMIOLOGY IN AFRICA (SPHERE-AFRICA)

In recent years, Africa has been affected by multiple outbreaks such as Mpox, Marburg, Ebola, and Cholera, amongst others. However, the resilience of public health institutions has been limited in terms of capacity and capabilities to prevent, early detect and respond to these outbreaks of infectious diseases. In response to this challenge "The Strengthening Public Health Education in Research & Epidemiology in Africa (SPHERE-Africa) consortium plans to i) collaboratively build and strengthen public health institutes capacity in Biostatistics and Epidemiology through a formal master's degree program and Infectious Diseases Modelling through short courses ii) provide additional short course training to build capacity among early or mid-career public health professionals to enhance their skills in advanced epidemiological methods; iii) implement a mentoring program using "South-South-North" mentorship and field placement models to capacitate public health expertise in Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Infectious Diseases Modelling; and iv) strengthen collaborative engagement in these key fields between institutions across sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. Trainings will be hosted at consortium member institutions in Ethiopia, Senegal, Mali, and South Africa (Cape Town) respectively, equipping African public health professionals with cutting-edge expertise in a). Systematic reviews and meta-analyses, b) Infectious disease outbreak response and investigation, c) Genomic surveillance, d) Mathematical modelling of infectious diseases, e) Bioinformatics and data science (including machine learning and artificial intelligence). In so doing SPHERE-Africa will strengthen Africa's ability to prepare for, detect, and respond to current and future epidemics and pandemics. Leveraging the collective expertise and experience of the consortium institutions, this initiative will enhance national and regional capacity to mount timely and effective responses to public health threat.