The University of Cape Town (UCT) and University of the Western Cape (UWC) Schools of Public Health are calling for interested candidates to apply for two Postdoctoral Research Fellowships to start in January 2013. The successful candidates will be required to register at UCT or UWC and will join the CHESAI team, where they will be expected to contribute to its work and to facilitate communication and joint learning between UCT and UWC. This collaboration is based on the understanding that Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) is an emerging field within the broader terrain of health research, with conceptual and methodological foundations that require substantial development. The overall aim for CHESAI is, therefore, to contribute to expanding and strengthening the health policy and systems knowledge base in Africa through building an intellectual hub for HPSR in Cape Town, South Africa, creating spaces for engagements between researchers and practitioners, supporting African HSPR capacity development and sharing/disseminating HPSR conceptual and methodological innovation.
Jobs and Announcements
The Africa Focus on Intervention Research for Mental Health (AFFIRM) is a research and capacity development Hub established in six countries: South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Ethiopia. It aims to investigate strategies for narrowing the treatment gap for mental disorders in sub-Saharan Africa, to build individual and institutional capacity for intervention research in sub-Saharan Africa, to establish a network of collaboration between researchers, NGOs and government agencies, and to collaborate with other regional hubs. In order to meet its aim of building capacity for intervention research, AFFIRM is offering five fellowships to candidates from Hub countries (excluding South Africa) to complete the MPhil in Public Mental Health in the Centre for Public Mental Health in 2013. Only one fellowship will be awarded per country. To be eligible, candidates must come from one of the Hub countries, successfully gain entry to the MPhil in Public Mental Health and undertake a research project that is aligned with the goal of AFFIRM, which is to use task shifting interventions to narrow the treatment gap in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development Aid (Cordaid) is seeking nominations from organisations that show outstanding vision, commitment and leadership in making use of local resources to implement sustainable care and support initiatives for children living with or affected by HIV. Cordaid will award the most outstanding organisation nominated with an award of €10,000 to further strengthen its activities in this field. Organisations that are eligible to be nominated for this year’s award should be active in the above-mentioned field in one of the following countries: Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Malawi and Uganda.
Healthcare around the world is unaffordable for millions of people. At the same time, states are responsible for delivering universal access to health systems according to their legal commitments to the Right to Health. However, Action for Global Health argues that this is only possible if they develop sustainable health financing mechanisms to support strong and equitable national health systems. To make Universal Health Coverage (UHC) a reality, there is still the need for greater political will both, at national level, to put into practice the reforms needed and, at international level, to promote and revitalise a general consensus towards ‘health for all’, facilitating technical support and additional resources. Making progress towards UHC will accelerate social and economic growth, is fundamental to sustainable development and is fair, argues Action for Global Health. The organisation, which consists of a network of non-governmental organisations, has been working on a common statement for UHC, asking for greater political support and promoting a joint movement for UHC. If your organisation wants to sign on, please contact Action for Global Health.
Grand Challenges Canada has announced Round 4 of its Stars in Global Health programme. The current round is open to anyone with a Masters degree or above and whose qualification is less than 10 years old. PhD students can use this funding to finance their projects. Applicants should submit bold ideas in global health to apply for US$100,000 seed grants to test their concepts. The focus could be on science and technology and/or social and business interventions. The definition of global health may be considered as very broad here, hence potential applicants could come from Universities (departments of engineering, law, agriculture and veterinary sciences, food science and nutrition, medicine, pharmacy, nursing, public health, business schools, computer science, arts and science, education, anthropology, sociology) research institutes, for-profit and non-profit organisations etc. A new round will be launched every six months.
Global Maternal Health Conference 2013 (GMHC2013) is a technical conference for scientists, researchers, and policy-makers to network, share knowledge, and build on progress toward eradicating preventable maternal mortality and morbidity by improving the quality of maternal health care. The conference is co-sponsored by Management and Development for Health, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and the Maternal Health Task Force at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA.
DRC offers these research awards (formerly known as the IDRC Internship Awards) annually to Canadians, permanent residents of Canada, and citizens of developing countries pursuing masters or doctoral studies at a recognized university or having completed a master’s or doctoral program at a recognized university. As a research award recipient, you will undertake a one-year paid program of research on the topic you submitted when competing for the award. During part of the time (often around 50%), you will be trained in research management through hands-on experience with your chosen program. You will be mentored by an IDRC staff member.
Research groups or consortia from African national institutions are invited to express interest in undertaking multidisciplinary research to elucidate population health vulnerabilities due to vector-borne diseases (VBDs) in dryland socio-ecological systems. The research will also need to explore how state-of-the-art, VBD control tools and strategies can be used more effectively to reach remote or otherwise marginalized populations (especially women and children), and conceive, strengthen and improve their adaptation and resilience strategies to climate, environmental and socio-economic and demographic change. For this purpose, resilience is defined as the capacity to prevent, withstand, recover, or adapt to VBD risks associated with climate change. TDR will implement the research programme with funding support from IDRC and in technical collaboration with WHO’s Department of Public Health and Environment, WHO’s Regional Office for Africa (AFRO)Programme for the Protection of the Human Environment and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), Columbia University, New York.
Are you planning to attend the Second Global Health Symposium? If so, UHC Forward is looking for bloggers to write about universal health care at the symposium for the UHC Forward website. Please email Nkem Wellington for more information at the email address given.
The People Living with HIV Stigma Index (PLHIV Stigma Index) collects information on stigma, discrimination and the rights of people living with HIV that will help in advocacy efforts. The main aim of collecting this information and presenting it in the form of an index is to broaden understanding of the extent and forms of stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV in different countries. The intention of the participating organizations is to make the PLHIV Stigma Index widely available so that it can be used as a local, national and global tool to gather evidence and support subsequent evidence-based advocacy.
The PLHIV Stigma Index is coordinated by an International Partnership. The International Partnership comprises of GNP+, ICW and UNAIDS. The position of PLHIV Stigma Index Coordinator will be supported by the International Partnership. The position will be hosted by GNP+.