The Path Forward

A major guiding force for the future of TEPHINET and the global network of FETPs is the Global Field Epidemiology Roadmap finalized in February 2019 at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva.

This Roadmap defines the FETP Enterprise as “the totality of the leaders, funders, implementing partners, government agencies, and other stakeholders engaged in this global effort, along with associated workforce competency targets, standards, agreements, technologies, etc. that undergird this work.”

According to the Roadmap, TEPHINET will serve as the Secretariat for a Strategic Leadership Group (SLG) to oversee the implementation of the Roadmap’s eight high-level recommendations for enhancing and accelerating the development of field epidemiology capacity worldwide:

1. A broadly representative Strategic Leadership Group (SLG) should be established to provide a driving force for progress for the FETP Enterprise. The SLG would monitor the need for change and enhancement of the FETP Enterprise; develop and promulgate action-oriented guidance, recommendations, and standards; and commission specific work to develop needed tools, systems and policies.
2. The SLG should continually monitor and assure needed improvements and changes in the FETP Enterprise, especially as regards the need to expand and modernize FETP core competencies and curricula.
3. The SLG should promote the development of applied epidemiology workforce targets at each level of expertise (basic [Frontline], intermediate and advanced), to support the development of a workforce capable of meeting country-specific public health and global health security needs.
4. The SLG should assure the development of a cadre of specially trained FETP fellows and alumni available for rapid response to health emergencies, including but not limited to major outbreaks of infectious disease.
5. The SLG should work with country partners to accelerate the rate at which FETPs become fully institutionalized—programmatically, technically, and financially—into country health systems.
6. The SLG should continue, strengthen, and expand efforts to assure and improve the quality of FETPs, as well as the supporting network-level elements of the FETP Enterprise.
7. The SLG should promote and work to assure sustainable funding for all elements of the global FETP Enterprise.
8. The SLG should foster enhanced alignment and integration of the FETP Enterprise with key global health programs and priorities, including (for example) global health security, One Health, and universal health coverage.