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In Central Africa, U.S. Sponsors Training for Experts in Infectious Diseases

   Program  designed to create prompt response to persistent pandemics in
   sub-region

   Divine Ntaryike Jr. | Douala, Cameroon 24 November 2010

   Scientists  usually point to Central Africa as the site of some of the
   worldâs  deadliest  infectious  diseases.   Cash-strapped governments
   usually  depend on foreign assistance, especially when pandemics break
   out.

   But now, thereâs fresh reason to hope for a prompt and effective local
   response.   With  US  sponsorship,  Central Africa has begun training
   local specialists in field epidemiology and laboratory science.

   Health officials in the Republic of Congo are sounding the alarm after
   the  emergence  of a mysterious disease they say has claimed more than
   20 lives in a month.

   The  illness  resembles  polio,  which  leads to paralysis, says Prof.
   Alexis  Elhira  Dokekias,  the countryâs director of health.  He adds
   that  efforts  to  identify the disease have met with little success.Â
   As they wait for foreign assistance, theyâre preserving the remains of
   deceased  victims  for  analysis.  Dokekias  says in the meantime, the
   death toll is skyrocketing.

   Thatâs  just  one  of  several epidemics, including a cholera outbreak
   that  reportedly originated in northern Cameroon last May and is still
   killing  hundreds in neighboring Nigeria and Chad. Diseases like ebola
   and dengue fever silently killed hundreds before they were identified.

   Experts  say a major contributing factor is inadequate epidemiological
   surveillance, or its sheer absence in some countries in the region.

   Epidemiological  surveillance  is  the systematic collection, analysis
   and  dissemination  of  health information so that officials can plan,
   carry out and evaluate projects..

   Central  Africa  is  home  to  some  of the worldâs poorest people and
   governments.  Officials  are  welcoming  a  US-sponsored post-graduate
   program  to  groom  18 field epidemiologists and laboratory scientists
   from  three countries -- eight from the DRC and five each from Central
   African Republic and Cameroon.

   The  training  project is called the Field Epidemiology and Laboratory
   Training  Program,  or FELTP.  Itâs a two-year masterâs degree course
   and  itâs  been  underway  since  late  October  at  the University of
   Yaounde.

   The  program will not only help find antidotes to pandemics in Central
   Africa, says Prof. Oumarou Bouba, rector of the University of Yaounde,
   but  also  contribute to sub-regional integration with the possibility
   of  cross-border  collaboration to track down, prevent and control the
   spread of disease.

   The  course  is  the  first of its kind in Central Africa.  Worldwide
   there  are  now  52  such programs that have been launched by the U.S.
   Centers  for  Disease  Control (CDC) since 1980.  For Central Africa,
   the project is also supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
   and the World Health Organization.

   Officials  say  its  launch  is  part of U.S. President Barack Obamaâs
   Global  Health  Initiative,  which  seeks  to  build the capacities of
   partner  nations  to  address their public health needs with their own
   resources.   Over  half  the programs are now run independently of US
   government support.

   âThis  program is going to help Central Africa fight its epidemics and
   conduct  surveillance,â  says  Peter  Nsubuga,  who represents the CDC
   project.   âThereâre several diseases, vaccine-preventable diseases.Â
   So  the  problems  have always been there.  This is an opportunity to
   start dealing with them using people who are trained here and who will
   be deployed here and we know this will continue.â

   Graduates  elsewhere  have  led  successful  investigations  of public
   health  emergencies  in their home countries â including HIV infection
   and avian and H1N1 (or swine) flu, among vaccinated populations.

   âI  really  believe  that  through  this  program, we can help control
   cholera,â  says Robert Jackson, the US ambassador to Cameroon, âwe can
   do  better  with  polio,  measles  â  we  can  do  better in attacking
   contagious  diseases when they break out and through that, we can do a
   better job of keeping disease from spreading from country to country.â

   But  observers  warn  the  project  may  lead nowhere if the necessary
   equipment and infrastructure are not put in place so graduates can use
   their training.

   Prof.  Paul Herrling is head of the Novartis Institutes for Developing
   World  Medical  Research.   He says on the whole, African governments
   must  substantially  increase their budgets for health and research to
   better prevent and control the spread of disease:

   âThe  GDP  they  allocate to research is very, very small.  For doing
   research, you need very strong -- very strong infrastructure. You have
   to  be  rich  essentially  and thatâs not the case, and so itâs rather
   difficult.â

   But  Cameroon  government  officials  say theyâre sparing no effort in
   ensuring  that  the  country  reaps a hundred percent benefit from the
   program.   They  have  pledged to build field laboratories across the
   country to conduct permanent surveillance and provide prompt alerts.

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