Research & Service

Visit Enables Exchange of Expertise and Ideas while Promoting International Collaboration

On Monday, May 3, the Global Health Initiative (GHI) at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health hosted a U.S. State Department delegation of 16 public health professionals from 15 countries spanning Africa, Asia and the Pacific.  The visiting dignitaries met with faculty representatives from the school’s numerous global health programs to share and exchange knowledge and discuss the challenges and best practices for tackling various health threats in resource-limited countries.
 
The U.S. State Department hosts over four thousand visitors annually from around the world as part of its International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), a professional exchange program involving numerous fields, healthcare among them. Visitors to the Mailman School from the IVLP included public health professionals from government entities  such as Ministries of Health and Education, hospitals, and healthcare providers; nations represented included Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Eritrea, Ghana, Japan, Kiribati, Laos, Mexico, Mozambique, Nepal, Taiwan, Tuvalu, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The delegation’s activities included stops in numerous cities among a broad range of healthcare settings. Prior to arriving at the Mailman School, the group took part in a week-long visit to Washington D.C., which included a visit to the Department of Human and Health Services, before travelling to New York to meet with health and medical professionals at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, as well as with faculty at the Mailman School.

The visiting dignitaries were guests of the U.S. State Department, whose programmatic goals are to: 

• Promote international cooperation on the common challenges facing the global community in preventing, treating, and managing chronic and non-communicable diseases such as stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer;
• Examine state and local efforts at preventative screening and wellness programs, and such projects as promoting maternal and child health;     
• Examine public awareness campaigns about health issues and the effects of economic downturns, poverty, and other external challenges to healthcare delivery systems; and  
• Assess U.S. and international healthcare programs and increase information sharing and transparency in global health issues.

The  Mailman School’s GHI Director, Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, and director of ICAP and professor of Epidemiology and Medicine, and Alastair Ager, PhD, GHI executive director and professor of clinical population & family health presented background on various internationally-focused health programs at the School, referring to the Global Health Initiative as synergies in action. “With this group we have the mechanisms and real potential for collaboration. The elements are here and our challenge is to use the capacities we have to work in the most productive ways,” said Dr. Ager.

Strategic Goals

The Mailman School is already at the forefront of this transformation by advancing a four-prong strategy/vision that addresses the changing landscape of global health.  Accordingly, the School has designed innovative approaches to better evaluate the future global health challenges that will reshape thoughts and practices over the next 10 years. Committed to working in these new ways, GHI - in collaboration with Mailman School faculty - has begun to implement a core set of strategic goals; among these goals is determining how we can form an effective vision that knits together four critical synergies:

• Effective leadership – Mailman School Dean Fried is committed to a new focus for the School and has launched a new strategic plan concentrating on several key initiatives. In addition to global health, these include chronic diseases, healthy aging, and climate and health.
• Interdisciplinary Science – An effective tool that brings insights and innovation to key GHI strategies. Accordingly, the Mailman School has launched SPIRE (Supporting & Promoting Interdisciplinary Research & Education) in support of interdisciplinary research to solve the complex health challenges of today.
• Global Partnerships - GHI’s goal is to strengthen global partnerships – an example of which is meeting and establishing collaborations with global health experts from around the globe, such as through the State Department program. Partnerships are key to the success of this strategy and the Mailman School is dedicating significant efforts in support of its commitment to move in this direction.  
• Enhanced Curriculum -- The Mailman School has a commitment to influence science and partnership and move in new directions. To this end, GHI is contributing to the curriculum renewal efforts at the Mailman School, tailoring course work to support strategic goals.

Following their brief introduction and overview, representatives from several Mailman School programs outlined their work and described how each fits with the School’s long-term strategic vision.  Among those presenting were:

International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP)
Miriam Rabkin, MD, MPH, director for health systems strategies at ICAP and associate clinical professor of medicine and epidemiology presented the principles that guide ICAP’s work and how it supports national programs in the host countries, many of which were represented at this meeting. ICAP’s focus is on the technical expertise of HIV/AIDS treatment and service and how we can build up capacity so countries can do their own scale-up as service providers.

Reproductive Health Access, Information and Services in Emergencies (RAISE Initiative)
Therese McGinn, DrPH, director of RAISE Initiative and associate professor of clinical population and family health department spoke about the Program’s focus on delivering reproductive health in countries experiencing conflict, working with governments and NGOs. The goal of its representatives is to enhance technical standards and talk to policy makers on how money gets spent. Dr. McGinn gave the statistic that 1 in 100 people around the globe are displaced, and further made the point that at times of greatest risk reproductive health services are forgotten.  Examples of countries in conflict today are Darfur, Congo, and Colombia.

Averting Maternal Death and Disability Program (AMDD)
Helen de Pinho, MD, associate director of AMDD and assistant professor of clinical population and family health presented on AMDD’s work to strengthen national health systems to provide emergency care for all women experiencing life-threatening obstetric complications.  Since 1999, AMDD has worked with partners in over 50 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. She presented several sobering statistics – e.g. there are between 340 - 530 thousand maternal deaths and 7.5 million pregnancy-related deaths reported per year, and the country of Chad has a lifetime risk of one in eight pregnancy-related deaths. Interventions that reduce mortality rates are family planning, emergency obstetrical care, and having a skilled attendant at delivery.

Marni Sommer, DrPH, MSN, RN, assistant professor of Sociomedical Sciences addressed the serious gender gap in certain areas of the world when it comes to puberty and particularly the risk to girls from dropping out of school.  She has just completed research in Tanzania on empowering girls, called the Girl’s Puberty Book Project.   

Emphasizing the School’s commitment to international partnership, Dr. Ager stated, “With broader globalization and the challenges of rapid demographical and epidemiological changes becoming increasingly significant, the Mailman School has an invaluable chest of resources to think and work collaboratively.”