IFEH ISSUE 6 - International Federation of Environmental Health

the National Health Training Centre (Lesotho). Keraka (Kenya) was invited by Kitagwa (Kenya) to act
as external examiner for the degree programme at Moi University and is also the external examiner for
the newly established degree programme at Mount Kenya University. Van der Westhuizen (South
Africa) has been invited to be external examiner for the new degree programme at the Polytechnic of
Namibia by Jansen (Namibia). Musoke (Uganda) has been appointed as a visiting lecturer at Kigali
Health Training Institute (Rwanda). Grimason has acted as external examiner for the degree
programme at the Polytechnic (Malawi). Very little collaboration between African academics existed
before the establishment of the Academy, which is a step forward in the right direction.
Research
Another objective of the project was to promote and facilitate collaborative environmental health
research in SADC countries. Universities and academics in Africa face many challenges and
constraints when it comes to undertaking environmental health research e.g. lack of well-equipped and
accredited laboratories, limited technical support, government / university funding etc. As a result,
most studies generally gather empirical evidence using observational, questionnaire / focused group
discussions which is important in the field of environmental health. The uniqueness of EH research is
that it provides a bridge between the physical and social sciences and facilitates a better understanding
of the environment and health. However, evidence from the questionnaire study conducted by
Engelbrecht would suggest that most academics involved with the delivery of EH programmes in
Africa are recruited for teaching purposes rather than research. Feedback from the workshops would
suggest that most academics lack essential research skills and knowledge e.g. on proposal writing and
paper writing. As a result many struggle to publish their results in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Often the results of fascinating studies unique to EH are published in national medical and/or
professional journals which are not highly regarded by the University promotion committees and are
not necessarily available to the world-wide EH community.
During the recent workshop in Cape Town, Norman, Ana, Musoke and Lungu presented on EH in
their respective countries. Interestingly, many of them presented photographic evidence of the
insanitary conditions facing the poorest members of society in each country – different countries but
similar problems. We know what the problems are but how do we generate the statistical data to
bridge the photographic evidence with empirical evidence to provide the scientific evidence to
convince Ministries of Health to develop/adopt/apply environmental health policies and strategies and
drive home the message that prevention is better (and more cost effective) than cure? However, one of
the speakers did add another dimension to this dilemma “there is a clear lack of will by most
politicians and Governments in Africa to adequately address these issues … it is within their control to
do so if they were seriously interested … they see the same things that we do on a daily basis, come
on, get real!”
With respect to the objectives of this grant, we have attempted to address this issue by helping (i)
academics obtain Commonwealth academic research scholarships to undertake M. Phil and PhD
studies (n = 6), (ii) EH practitioners obtain Commonwealth professional scholarships to develop
professional practice and institutions (n =2), (iii) run proposal writing courses at Strathclyde
University, UK (March 2010), University of Johannesburg, South Africa (July 2010) and Kenyatta
University, Kenya (October 2011), and (iv) undertake collaborative research and produce publications
in professional and peer-reviewed scientific journals (see reference section). At the penultimate
workshop, the Academy also received a proposal from Dr. Caradee Wright, Council for Scientific and
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