I-TECH Zimbabwe’s male circumcision program was inaugurated in March 2013 by our local partner, the Zimbabwe Association of Church-Related Hospitals (ZACH), with completion of 16 surgeries at the Tshelanyemba Mission Hospital in Gwanda District in the Southern Province. The PI for the program, which is supported by the CDC, is Scott Barnhart.
Located at the Mekelle Hospital in the Tigray region, the facility features a TB isolation ward with a multiple-drug resistant TB unit. The ward, inaugurated in April 2013, was constructed by I-TECH Ethiopia and funded by PEPFAR through the U.S. CDC. It is one of three such facilities in the country.
Lilongwe District’s Nkhoma Hospital has started offering Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) services. The initiative is in partnership with Lilongwe District Office and Health Education Unit of the Ministry of Health, and I-TECH Malawi as part of a subgrant of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). It is intended to encourage more eligible men to access locally available VMMC services.
On June 16, the newly renovated, state-of-the-art laboratory at Debre-Berhan Referral Hospital was launched. It is the first referral hospital lab in the country that can accommodate high-standard, quality laboratory technologies and services which will serve over 2 million citizens. The laboratory was renovated and equipped by the U.S. CDC and I-TECH Ethiopia through partnership with the Amhara Regional Health Bureau.
I-TECH Haiti received a five-year grant from the CDC, “Improving Prevention and Care: Strengthening Health Systems.” The grant continues many of the formerly HRSA-funded activities, including clinical mentoring, health management information systems (iSanté, OpenELIS, TrainSMART), and pre-service for nursing, lab, and medical officers. The PI is Scott Barnhart, and funding for the first year is expected to be approximately $4.05 million.
Led by Department of Global Health Professor Robert Martin, I-TECH was recently awarded a three-year Department of Defense(DoD) contract totaling approximately $2.55 million to strengthen public health and clinical laboratories in Cambodia and Laos People’s Democratic Republic.
A $42.9 million award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will enable I-TECH to support Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC) in training healthcare workers throughout the country in an integrated approach to care and treatment of HIV. I-TECH’s Executive Director, Ann Downer, is the PI for award, which will also involve developing a robust clinical mentoring program using innovative approaches such as distance learning and live support through phone, SMS, and online.
The Department of Global Health has a full week of great events for anyone interested in growing their global health career. Our marquee event is the Global Healthies Award Ceremony on Thursday. We also have a Career Fair with more than 20 organizations, a Trivia Night with Prof. Stephen Gloyd, a film on global mental health by award-winning Seattle filmmaker and physician Delaney Ruston, and a faculty research seminar on the global burden of cardiovascular disease. We also have an alumni panel, info sessions, nia, zumba, and more.
Over the course of five years, Dr. Delaney Ruston traveled to India, China, South Africa and France exploring the plight of the mentally ill. Dr. Ruston has produced a full-length documentary on global mental health called "Hidden Pictures: A Personal Journey Into Global Mental Health." Real Change interviewed Ruston for their cover story Feb. 19-25, 2014. The film will be shown 2-3:30 p.m. Friday, March 7 as part of Global Health Career Week.
Robert Newman, MD, MPH, is the 2014 School of Public Health Distinguished Alumnus. Dr. Newman earned his MPH in the International Health Program of the Department of Epidemiology in 1998 and rapidly emerged as a leader in global health.