Planning for A GEOHealth Research and Training Hub in Uganda - United States

描述（由申请人提供）：本申请的目标是在两年内制定一个全球环境和职业健康（GEOHealth）方案，该方案将作为东非环境和职业健康（EOH）研究和培训中心。EOH问题在乌干达和东非尤其严重，由于缺乏政治和公众意识，这一领域远远落后于大多数中等收入国家。食品污染和卫生、水污染、工伤以及卫生专业人员接触生物危害与重大的健康和疾病负担有关。乌干达和东非区域迫切需要环境卫生专业人员来解决日益严重的问题，包括了解疾病和污染物的基线水平。该申请将在乔治亚大学（UGA）和马凯雷雷大学（Makerere University）之间进行协调。佐治亚大学公共卫生学院的教员在与马库公共卫生学院的乌干达调查人员合作方面有着悠久的历史。UGACPH和MakSPH都拥有一支从事EOH教学和研究的优秀师资队伍。该应用程序还建立在现有的UGACPH-MakSPH传染病预防和控制合作研究和培训计划的基础上，该计划由福格蒂资助

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this application is to develop a global environmental and occupational health (GEOHealth) program in two years, which would act as a center for environmental and occupational health (EOH) research and training in Eastern Africa. EOH problems are particularly acute in Uganda and Eastern Africa, where the field has lagged far behind most middle income countries due to a lack of political and public awareness. Food contamination and hygiene, water pollution, work-related injuries, and health professional exposures to biological hazards are associated with significant health and disease burdens. EOH professionals are critically needed to address to growing issues, including the understanding of baseline levels of disease and contaminants, in Uganda and Eastern Africa region. This application will be coordinated between University of Georgia (UGA) and Makerere University (MakU). Faculty at UGA College of Public Health (UGACPH) has a long track record of working with Uganda investigators at the MakU School of Public Health (MakSPH). Both UGACPH and MakSPH have a good team of faculty members engaged in EOH teaching and research. This application is also built on an existing UGACPH-MakSPH collaborative research and training program in infectious diseases prevention and control, funded by Fogarty International Center, NIH. We will focus on three areas of interest: 1) food hygiene (food safety and Contamination), 2) water quality (water sanitation, pollution with chemicals and microbes in water supplies), and 3) occupational health and safety (work-related injuries and health professional exposure to biological hazards). We have chosen these three areas of focus because they are identified as urgent needs in Uganda and Eastern Africa. The specific aims include: (1) to conduct needs and opportunities assessment of EOH priorities in Uganda and Eastern Africa Region; to assemble network partners for development of a training hub; and to identify needs for capacity building for EOH professionals and laboratories and (2) to develop and evaluate research priorities agenda and to conduct pilot study projects in the three focal areas of interest.