Africa Academy for Public Health (AAPH) is an independent non-profit organization registered in Tanzania with the mission to address public health priority challenges in sub–Saharan Africa through innovative scientific evidence, training and capacity building as well as knowledge translation. AAPH provides a platform for north-south and south-south learning to develop collaborative and sustainable research and programs, with the aim to benefit population health. The Africa Academy for Public Health incorporated in 2009, evolved from decades of public health research collaborations between the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and several public health research and training institutions in Tanzania. Now headquartered in Dar es Salaam – Tanzania, AAPH works with a range of individuals, institutions as well as organizations, allowing ample opportunities for professional collaborations and networks.
AAPH collaborators include; the Tanzania Ministry of Health, President’s Office, Regional and Local Administration (PO-RALG), Tanzania Medicines & Medical Devices Authority, National Bureau of Statistics, Office of Chief Government Statistician Zanzibar, Ifakara Health Institute, Management and Development for Health, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), University of Dodoma, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPS), Heidelberg Institute of Global Health University of Heidelberg, centers of excellence in USA, Germany, UK and Switzerland, other governmental, non-governmental and international like-minded organizations and institutions. This network provides a range of technical expertise, capabilities and perspectives which provide a unique set of resources in advancing public health in Tanzania, sub-Saharan African and worldwide.
Africa Academy for Public Health is committed to being the premier provider of innovative public health research and health systems training activities for the benefit of the community by advancing public health priorities through ground-breaking research, training, capacity building and knowledge translation. In this, AAPH upholds core values of excellence, integrity, collaboration, innovation, community empowerment, sustainability and investing in people.
In collaboration with MUHAS and HSPS, AAPH has hosted a series of annual scientific symposia and workshops since 2014. These are part of the capacity building component of the HIV-Implementation Science training program (HIS) hosted at MUHAS and supported by AAPH and HSPH. The HIS training program is now on its second-five years’ phase having accomplished major strides in the just ended first-five years’ phase. Among the HIS successes are the 9 trained post-doctoral fellows, 23 trained short-term fellows, funding 12 research studies, leading 14 short courses for 538 trainees and 4 annual HIV research symposia. The most significant success of the HIS training program was the launching of a Master of Public Health (MPH) program in Implementation Science at MUHAS. To date this MPH program has trained 8 highly qualified public health experts. In the next 5 years’ phase of the HIS training program we together hope to develop a PhD program in Implementation Science at MUHAS. Training of researchers and public health experts remains vital to ensuring development of the next generation of public health leaders on the African continent for strong, healthy, and resilient communities.
In this second-five years’ phase, the HIS training program continues to host annual scientific symposia for scientific evidence dissemination and knowledge translation around HIV implementation science in Tanzania and beyond. The 2023 Annual Scientific Symposium was titled “Translating Research into Practice for Adolescent Health, Nutrition, and HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa” which was held on Thursday the 19th of January 2023 from 09:00 A.M. – 04:30 P.M. at the Dar es Salaam Serena Hotel. The symposium provided a platform for local and international public health experts in the health sector, development partners, and government agencies to discuss priority public health issues gleaning from locally generated scientific evidence. The goal was to celebrate scientific advances in the public health field, to point out the challenges identified using scientific approaches, and to together chart collaborative opportunities for addressing these challenges.
Preceding this 2023 Annual Scientific Symposium were the three (3) days ARISE Network and collaborators’ meetings aimed at advancing pursuit of public health projects on adolescent health. The Africa Research Implementation Science and Education network (ARISE) Network co-founded by AAPH and HSPH brings together twenty-one (21) institutions from eight (8) countries within sub-Saharan Africa aiming at addressing our similar public health challenges.
Among the guests at the 2023 Annual Scientific Symposium were Prof. Abel Makubi - Permanent Secretary at the Tanzania Ministry of Health (who was represented by Prof. Pascal Ruggajo - Director of Curative Services at the Ministry of Health) as the Guest of Honour; Jessica Greene - Tanzania PEPFAR Country Coordinator; Prof. Mark Elliot - Chairperson of the AAPH Board of Directors and Harvard University’s Vice Provost for International Affairs; AAPH Founding Members and Board Members; Adolescent Representatives; Representatives from Government Agencies; Higher Learning and Research Institutions; and Non-Governmental Organizations.