Director's Message:
"As we approach the end of our second 5-year funding cycle and initiate our third biennial conference, we would like to reflect on the history, successes, and continuing goals of the UM FIC Programme. Occupational Health and Safety is a growing concern in Southern Africa as awareness of the chronic and potentially fatal health problems Southern African workers face on a daily basis increases. The directive of the UM FIC Programme in Environmental Health Sciences is to foster an integrated effort to develop the occupational and environmental health infrastructure in Southern Africa with a particular emphasis on improving research training and capacity. Specifically, capacity building involves: 1) financial and intellectual support for candidates from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for MPH and PhD programs at the University of Michigan, 2) short-term focused training at the University of Michigan for SADC researchers and health professionals, 3) sponsoring SADC candidates for postgraduate programs at partner institutions in Southern Africa, 4) sponsoring mid-level researchers at SADC institutions, 5) developing web-based learning programs, and 6) organizing and funding short-term training courses and conferences in Africa.
The cornerstone of the programme is sponsoring students to receive DOH, MPH, and PhD degrees at selected institutions in Southern Africa and the University of Michigan and sponsoring student and junior researchers in their endeavors. In the past, institutions like the Rockefeller Foundation have joined us in supporting PhD students on the study of the occupational asthma among seafood processing workers in South Africa and the first study of the relationship between respirable dust exposure and coal miners' respiratory health in Southern Africa. We are currently sponsoring studies on topics such as: the effects of air pollution on children's respiratory health in factory laden South Durban, South Africa; dental workers’ health in South African dental schools; pesticide exposure of workers in commercial flower farms in Tanzania; copper miners' safety in Zambia; health and environmental impact of illicit gold mining in Zimbabwe (mostly children and women); occupational allergy and asthma among bakery workers in Cape Town, South Africa; occupational and public safety in the public transportation industry in Tanzania. These studies are being conducted by indigenous academic and government researchers from Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.
Part of our mandate is to organize a conference every two years in Southern Africa to bring together directors, members of the review board, present and former recipients of UM FIC educational and research grants, and other representatives of agencies concerned with the future of Occupational Health and Safety in Southern Africa. The purpose of the conference is to present the results of work in progress sponsored by the program, discuss priorities for the direction of the program as they relate to the current state of Occupational Health and Safety in the region, and most importantly bring together all parties interested in working to improve workers' health and safety in order to foster an efficient and unified strategy for local capacity building.
As a colleague and friend who shares our interests and supports our endeavors, I welcome you to the third Biennial Fogarty International Center/ University of Michigan Southern African Programme in Training and Research in Environmental and Occupational Health Biennial Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa. Thank you for joining us.”
Tom Robins, MD MPH
Program Director,
Fogarty International Center Southern Africa Program in Environmental and Occupational Health