The Centre on Global Health Security at Chatham House, the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) announced Tuesday in Geneva, Switzerland the establishment of the 2018-2019 African Global Health Leaders Fellowship.

The fellowship supports the development of the next generation of public health leaders in Africa. The objective is to help fellows from Africa develop the knowledge, insight and skills to work within their own countries to formulate and implement evidence-based policy and to serve as the next generation of leaders. It builds skills in leadership, policy analysis and formulation, as well as global health diplomacy.

“We are very proud of this fellowship partnership with Chatham House and the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute, to whom we give our full support to operate freely in terms of program implementation and selection of the fellows. Our hope is that investing in Africa’s future health leaders will ultimately bring meaningful change, benefiting directly the population while making a stronger case for strengthening its healthcare system,” said Thomas Cueni, IFPMA Director General.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, Regional Director for Africa, World Health Organization noted that Africa’s burgeoning youth population requires rethinking how healthcare is delivered to this population group, and how to expand the human resources capacity to deliver quality health services adequately to all who need them. “It is my hope that today’s fellows will be tomorrow’s mentors, taking this fellowship programme to the scale needed to achieve continent-wide impact,” she said.

Sub-Saharan African countries have undergone unprecedented transformation and change in the last decade, including constant economic growth, a growing middle class, a healthier, more productive and increasingly more educated and skilled workforce and increased political stability. Although many challenges remain, recognition must be given to the huge advances that have been made.

Ama Pokuaa Fenny Research Fellow, Institute of Statistical, Social and Economics Research, University of Ghana and a West Africa Global Health Leaders Fellow, Centre on Global Health Security, said attention need to be paid to leadership in health, “or else we miss our opportunity to produce efficient health systems that keep us all healthy.”