This call goes out to all African health economists and health policy analysts or those working in Africa or on research of relevance to Africa to submit abstracts for the Second Conference of the African Health Economics and Policy Association (AfHEA), which will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 11 to 13 March 2014. The overall theme of this conference is "The Post-2015 African Health Agenda and UHC: Opportunities and Challenges". Researchers and other actors are encouraged to submit abstracts on this broad theme or indeed on any other interesting, innovative or topical African health sector or systems research that may be presented orally or in poster format at the conference. Proposals for organised sessions are also invited from interested individuals or institutions.
Jobs and Announcements
The Economics of Tobacco Control Project at the University of Cape Town is soliciting expressions of interest from potential participants in an Emerging Tobacco Control Researcher Programme to be held in Cape Town, South Africa in 2013. The programme is to be held in partnership with the International Tobacco Control Research Program at the American Cancer Society and funded through a grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of the African Tobacco Control Consortium. The programme is expected to take place in October 2013 and participants will spend a week in residence in Cape Town participating in workshops on tobacco control research. This year the programme will focus on the economics of tobacco control, with a particular interest in poverty and tobacco use, and will explore the use of existing survey instruments including expenditure surveys and demographic and health surveys.
The next Emerging Voices venture will take place on 7-11 December 2013 at the ICASA Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. Emerging Voices for Global Health (EV4GH) is a blended training programme for young researchers on health research and scientific communication. EV4GH trains “Emerging Voices” to participate actively in international conferences and to raise their voice in the scientific debate. There are three thematic tracks: Track 1 (clinical track). Theme: HIV co-infection: clinical challenges anno 2013. Track 2 (prevention track). Theme: Combination prevention for HIV. Track 3 (health systems track). Theme: HIV & Health Systems Strengthening. Applicants must be under 40 years of age (born after 1 January 1973), a researcher, a decision maker, or a practitioner involved in HIV and AIDS in Africa.
The Human Rights Scholarship (HRS) is awarded to local or international applicants wishing to undertake graduate research studies at the University of Melbourne in the human rights field and who are able to demonstrate their commitment to the peaceful advancement of respect for human rights. Each year the University offers two HRSs. Applicants must be able to demonstrate that their commitment to the peaceful advancement of respect for human rights extends beyond their academic studies (such as voluntary work and/or work experience). Applicants must have applied for, or be currently enrolled in a graduate research degree in the human rights field at the University of Melbourne. Applicants who have commenced their graduate research degree must have at least 12 months full-time or equivalent candidature remaining. International students must have an unconditional course offer at the University of Melbourne for the course for which they seek the support of a HRS.
The Global Network for Health Equity (GNHE) has launched its Scholarships Programme for 2013–2014. The programme aims to build capacity in low and middle-income countries for health systems research into issues of health systems equity and universal health coverage, by supporting junior researchers from those countries undertaking research on any of the following topics: equity in health systems financing and financial protection; equity in health systems delivery, including access and utilisation; equity in health outcomes at the population level; and universal health coverage. Applications from health economics and all other relevant research fields will be considered as well as inter-disciplinary proposals.
These two events will be held jointly in South Africa. The target audience is policy makers, public health academics and students, health professionals, health service managers and individuals from non-governmental and community-based health organisations. The joint conference will have as its focus, a scientific debate and discussion on strategies and action needed to move beyond the MDGs and on the public health legacy that we should leave, or want to, leave behind for the future generation. Speakers will include policy-makers, leading local and international academics and representatives of international organisations, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Federation of Public Health Associations. Parallel workshops will precede the main conference, with wide-ranging topics to suit diverse interests.
These two events will be held jointly in South Africa. The target audience is policy makers, public health academics and students, health professionals, health service managers and individuals from non-governmental and community-based health organisations. The joint conference will have as its focus, a scientific debate and discussion on strategies and action needed to move beyond the MDGs and on the public health legacy that we should leave, or want to, leave behind for the future generation. Speakers will include policy-makers, leading local and international academics and representatives of international organisations, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Federation of Public Health Associations. Parallel workshops will precede the main conference, with wide-ranging topics to suit diverse interests.
A total of four postdoctoral fellowships are available in the area of Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) for the Collaboration for Health Systems and Policy Analysis and Innovation (CHESAI) project, which is based at the School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town (UCT) and the School of Public Health, University of Western Cape (UWC), both in Cape Town, South Africa. The fellowships are for the period 2012-2016. Applicants must have citizenship of a sub-Saharan African country, be an expatriate African, or demonstrate commitment to future work in African health systems. They must have achieved a PhD in the last five years in any suitable field, such as health sciences or social sciences and not have previously held any permanent academic positions. Their work must show clear evidence of robust scholarly performance including a relevant publications record and have some relevant experience, specifically a track record of interest in health policy and systems issues, preferably including research. Applicants will be asked to propose an area of work relevant to one or more of the CHESAI themes, and to show how their past research provides a basis for this proposed work and/or what additional activities are proposed to contribute to the CHESAI community of practice. Please contact Jill Oliver and Thubelihle Mathole at the email address given.
The Second African Local Summit 2013, which is being organised by a Ghanaian based non-governmental organisation, will take a look at the Africa’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2015. The theme is: “Sustainable Development Goals and Africa beyond 2015: The Role of African Diaspora”. The summit aims to develop policies and programmes necessary for understanding the complexities and practical implications of the Africa Diaspora in socio-economic development and to foster appropriate relations between international development actors. The proposed outcome is to develop policies and programmes necessary of understanding the complexities and practical implications of the Africa Diaspora in socio-economic development of Africa and also foster appropriate relations between International Development Actors and the Africa Diaspora in the Post 2015 process. Moreover, the summit shall seek to advocate, promote and strengthen the Africa Diasporas role in development by creating a window of opportunity for engagement.
The Social Aspects of HIV and AIDS Research Alliance (SAHARA), established in 2001 by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), is an alliance of partners established to conduct, support and use social sciences research to prevent the further spread of HIV and mitigate the impact of its devastation in sub-Saharan Africa. The SAHARA 7 conference theme is "Translating evidence into action: Engaging with communities, policies, human rights, gender, service delivery".