In collaboration with MUHAS and HSPH, 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 in its second-five years’ phase having accomplished major strides in the just ended first five years. Among the HIS successes are 9 trained post-doctoral fellows, 23 trained short-term fellows, funding for 12 research studies, leading 14 short courses for 538 trainees and now 6 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 researchers and public health experts remains vital to ensuring the 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 the 6th annual symposium for the program and the 4th annual symposium done in collaboration with the ARISE Network. This years’ symposium was held on Thursday the 19th of January 2023 at the Dar es Salaam Serena Hotel. The symposia provide 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 is 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. This symposium highlighted ongoing adolescent health and nutrition interventions in Dodoma, Zanzibar, Tanga and Dar es Salaam, while sharing the adolescents’ perspective on the various collective efforts.
Preceding this 2023 Annual Scientific Symposium were 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.
