Press Release
U.S. Provides Full Scholarships to Tanzanian Health Professionals to Strengthen Education
December 12, 2008
Five Tanzanian health professionals recently traveled to Ethiopia to begin coursework on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of HIV/AIDS and other health programs at Jimma University in Oromia Regional State. The American people, through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Tanzania, sponsored the Tanzanians to earn their Masters of Science (MSc) in Health Monitoring and Evaluation, as part of the United States Government's initiative to strengthen health and education by building up the capacity of Tanzanian health professionals.
Jimma University, with support from Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (located in New Orleans, Louisiana), the U.S. CDC in Ethiopia, and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil, launched a successful Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Program for Health Professionals in 2003. The program, the first of its kind in Africa, will provide Tanzanian health professionals with skills, theory, and practice that can be applied to HIV/AIDS M&E. Once students complete their course work, they are invited to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to work in Tanzania’s health sector for at least two years.
Strengthening the M&E capacity of Tanzanians is an essential component of the fight against HIV/AIDS. There is an unmet need for Tanzanians with strong M&E skills in all areas of HIV/AIDS programs, including antiretroviral treatment, prevention, wellness and care. Scholarship funds will cover application processing, first year tuition, thesis cost, housing, transportation to and from Tanzania to Ethiopia, and related Information Technology support.
The United States of America is a global leader in combating HIV/AIDS worldwide through PEPFAR, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. This 10-year, $48 billion program, is the largest initiative in history to combat a single disease. Since its inception in 2003, the American people have provided over $817 million (over 1 trillion Tsh/-) to combat HIV/AIDS throughout Tanzania.
President Bush stated December 1 during World AIDS Day, "I believe in the universality of freedom, and I believe freedom is universal because of an almighty God. And I believe that it's not just freedom from tyranny that the United States must become involved in, I believe it's freedom from disease, freedom from hunger, freedom from deprivation. When we got started there were 50,000 people getting anti-retrovirals in all of sub-Sahara Africa. Today we're able to announce that over 2 million worldwide, including 150,000 in Tanzania, are receiving ARVs. And I wish the American people could see what we have seen after this PEPFAR initiative has kicked in and brought results."
The United States will continue to work closely with the United Republic of Tanzania to strengthen the health of this nation and fulfill President Kikwete’s vision of a “Tanzania free of HIV.”