The Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC) is specifically mandated to “support Member States in capacity building in public health through, medium and long-term field epidemiologic and laboratory training programmes” (Article 3, Africa CDC governing statute). To fulfill this mandate, Africa CDC convened a Task Force for Workforce Development in 2018. The Task Force included representatives from Member States, public health organizations, academia, and global health agencies and sought to define specific action steps for Africa CDC to develop personnel in three professional areas: field epidemiology; public health laboratory leadership; and public health informatics.
The Task Force prepared this Framework for Workforce Development to describe actions that Africa CDC, Member States, and partners will take to increase both the quantity and quality of African public health professionals, including:
- Advocating at the highest government levels for epidemiology, laboratory, and informatics training programs as key components of health security
- Promoting accreditation of existing Field Epidemiology Training Programs
- Collaborating with African schools of public health to increase the number of Africans with graduate-level training
- Promoting development of new programs for laboratory leadership and public health informatics, including standard curricula
- Advocating for civil service career tracks for epidemiologists, laboratory leaders, and informaticians within government health agencies
- Developing an Africa CDC Institute for Workforce Development to provide online training and continuous tracking of professional development
File | Action |
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Framework for Public Health Workforce Development (English) | Download |
Framework for Public Health Workforce Development (French) | Download |
Framework for Public Health Workforce Development (Arabic) | Download |