WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?

Africa has 24% of the burden of disease in the world, but only 3% of the healthcare workers. This means that even with great advances in science and technology, African countries struggle to provide adequate health care to their populations.


Back in November 2007, the Duke Global Health Institute and the Fuqua School of Business co-sponsored a conference here at Duke with the Global Health Workforce Alliance to discuss the African Healthcare Worker Shortage. Out of that conference came an invitation for Duke to be involved in the First Global Forum on Human Resources for Health, sponsored by the Global Health Workforce Alliance and the World Health Organization (WHO). This conference is being held in Kampala, Uganda on March 2-7, 2008.

As part of Duke's involvement in the conference, the Duke Global Health Institute is sponsoring the attendance at the conference of five students from the School of Medicine and the Fuqua School of Business. This blog is their opportunity to share what they learn.

Friday, March 7, 2008

On our way out...

A hectic schedule and lack of convenient internet access have kept me from posting since arriving. Although the official conference ended Wednesday night, there have been additional sessions over the past two days. Some highlights included developing an International NGO Code of Conduct for Health Systems Strengthening (paying tribute to the sometimes detrimental impact international NGOs can have on the health care worker shortage or situation in many developing countries) and hearing the experiences of the Strathmore Business School in Nairobi, Kenya in developing health management training programs. With 1000+ participants here in one place our research and learning has really been at maximum capacity and efficiency!! It was without a doubt a great decision to spend the week here and connect with so many interesting individuals.

This morning I also had the chance to leave the conference "bubble" and experience some realities of downtown Kampala... markets, rolexes, bora-boras, and more. I'm racing against a low battery so next report later (perhaps from Durham!)

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