African Health OER Network: Leadership Training Workshop for Health Professionals

Sub-Saharan Africa is faced with a high burden of morbidity and mortality due to infectious diseases. This burden of disease is caused by diseases that are otherwise preventable, through appropriate behaviour change at individual, household and community level. However, there are significant barriers to attaining a sustainable reduction in the burden of these disease. These barriers include: Health systems that do not promote sufficient access to preventive and curative services, inadequate human resources for health, inadequate funding for health programs, poverty, and low levels of education.
 
Because of the glaring challenges facing the health systems in sub-Saharan Africa, the region needs health managers who can lead – not only is there a scarcity of health professionals at all levels in the region, but there is an acute shortage of health managers who have the leadership skills to overcome the challenges of our time, initiate sustainable change and transform the health care systems of this region in a way that is more responsive to the needs of this region and in a way that results in sustainable impacts on morbidity and mortality. Contrary to some existing assertions about leadership, leadership skills can be acquired through learning, practice and experience.
 
This course is targeted to mid-level and top level health managers in the sub-Saharan region and those in regions with a similar context across the world. We hope that by the end of this short course, participants shall have received the necessary knowledge and the requisite internal motivation and energy to initiate sustainable change in health service delivery in their organisations, so as to contribute to the improvement in the health status of their service populations.

Structure: Five-day workshop

Organization: East Africa HEALTH Alliance

Authors: 

• Dr. Elizabeth Ekirapa, Department of Health Policy, Planning and Management, Makerere University School of Public Health
• Mr. David Mukanga, African Field Epidemiology Network
• Prof. John T. Kakitahi, Department of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences, Makerere University School of Public Health
• Dr. Elizabeth Nabiwemba, Department of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences, Makerere University School of Public Health
• Prof. William Bazeyo, Dean, School of Public Health, Makerere University College of Health Sciences
• Dr. Roy William Mayega, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Makerere University School of Public Health

dScribe: Matthew Simpson, University of Michigan Medical School