Uganda Malaria COHRE Training Program-Planning Application

Makerere University College Of Health Sciences, Kampala

Investigators

Abstract

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite research progress, and in spite of considerable public health efforts, malaria control in Uganda is not yet adequate. The tools to prevent and treat malaria are available and proven. Nonetheless, how to best deliver malaria interventions to large numbers of vulnerable people remains a challenge. To meet current and future challenges to control malaria in Uganda, the body of experts must grow and diversify. Expanding malaria clinical training and developing expertise in operational and health services research is of urgent priority. It is anticipated that improved expertise will help the Uganda Ministry of Health (MOH) best establish cost-effective policies for the treatment and control of malaria. The goal of this proposal is to develop a comprehensive research training program application that will lead to a program to build Ugandan capacity to address the challenges of malaria control and to translate research findings into public health policy and interventions. The training program will build on a growing number of clinical research projects on malaria and extend the findings of these studies to public health. The specific aims of this planning grant application are to: 1) form a planning committee, 2) assess existing capacity for implementing PMI objectives in terms of personnel and resources, 3) define research training resources and needs, 4) establish new linkages to enhance training, 5) develop a training plan tailored to identified needs, and 6) develop a plan for program evaluation. This strategy will be developed through a series of planning exercises between investigators of Makerere University-UCSF, the Uganda MOH and other collaborating groups and will build on our two existing capacity building grants: "Training in Malaria Research in Uganda" (1 D43 TW01506-06) through the Fogarty International Center and "Improving Malaria Surveillance and Control in Uganda" through the Global Malaria Prevention and Control program of the CDC (PA number AA197). This planning grant will provide the information required to prepare a five-year training plan focusing on clinical, operational, and health services research. This will help develop capacity in Uganda for effective implementation of Malaria control and prevention strategies. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]