The International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI) had its 13th annual meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from December 3-6, 2019 to provide opportunities for member NPHIs (national public health institutes) to share their expertise and experiences. The theme for this year’s meeting was “evidence-informed global action for trans-boundary public health challenges” and featured discussions about NPHI development in Africa, the impact of NPHIs in the health development of a nation, and about how IANPHI and the World Health Organization (WHO) can support NPHIs, among other topics.
The purpose of IANPHI is to improve global health by leveraging the expertise and knowledge of its member institutes to create strong public health systems. IANPHI's specific emphasis on NPHIs has resulted in tangible capability changes, including disease surveillance and response to Ebola, Zika, and other immediate threats requiring swift, robust cross-border collaboration in public health. Over the course of the four-day conference, 156 participants from 59 countries and organizations, including the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the European Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and WHO, all learned about IANPHI’s activities and growth.
Dr. Angela Hilmers, the senior associate director for science at TEPHINET, attended the event to learn more about IANPHI member activities and how TEPHINET can support and collaborate with the IANPHI network to fill any needs or gaps.
”TEPHINET and IANPHI share a commitment to strengthen public health systems globally and are already collaborators on the development and implementation of the Global Field Epidemiology Roadmap that highlights among other initiatives the integration of FETP into apex national public health institutes” says Hilmers. “According to TEPHINET’s most recent membership survey, 27 percent of our member field epidemiology training programs (FETPs) are hosted within an NPHI. We look forward to expanding our partnership with IANPHI to strengthen field epidemiology capacity worldwide.”
Through a partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), TEPHINET also supports NPHI development in multiple countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Liberia, Mali, Namibia, and Zambia. NPHIs work on a global level to help countries execute vital public health functions. When there is a deficiency in public health systems, NPHIs bridge the gaps and relieve strain on the systems.
