2/2 - Establishing a GEOHealth Hub Platform for East Africa - Ethiopia

描述（由申请人提供）：这些配对申请来自美国南加州大学（USC）预防医学系和非洲低收入国家埃塞俄比亚亚的斯亚贝巴大学（AAU）公共卫生学院，其目标是采取关键的探索和规划步骤，为东非建立一个环境和职业健康跨学科研究和培训中心。我们建议采用遵循循证公共卫生一般范例的方法开展信息收集、联网和规划活动；涉及证据收集、评估目前的知识状况、确定关键的不确定性、评估主要利益攸关方的活动，以及编制培训、研究、政策和外联能力清单。我们专注于三个目标领域；即室内外空气质量、以农业为重点的职业健康和气候变化。在南加大和非洲农业大学在环境和职业健康培训和研究活动方面丰富和互补的经验的基础上，这一伙伴关系将加强非洲农业大学各学院、埃塞俄比亚政府机构和非政府组织（包括卫生部、劳动和社会事务部）正在进行的与环境和职业健康和环境科学有关的培训、研究和决策活动

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): These paired applications from the Department of Preventive Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC), USA, and the School of Public Health of Addis Ababa University (AAU) in Ethiopia, a low income African country, have the goal of taking crucial exploratory and planning steps towards establishing a hub for interdisciplinary research and training in environmental and occupational health for East Africa. We propose to carry out information-gathering, networking, and planning activities using an approach that follows the general paradigm of evidence-based public health; involving evidence gathering, evaluation of current state of knowledge, identification of critical uncertainties, assessment of activities of key stakeholders, and an inventory of training, research, policy and outreach capacity. We focus on three targeted areas; namely, indoor and outdoor air quality, occupational health with emphasis on agriculture, and climate change. Building on the rich and complementary experiences of USC and AAU in training and research activities in environmental and occupational health, this partnership will strengthen the ongoing training, research and policy-making activities related to environmental and occupational health and environmental sciences at various schools of AAU, governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Ethiopia, including the Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA), Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority (EEPA), and other Ethiopian Universities. The hub will broaden its activities across the region through the AAU-based Horn of Africa Regional Environment Center and Network (HOAREC/N), a partner in this application (which includes one of our targeted countries - Kenya), and to Uganda and Rwanda through USC collaborations. Through the College of Development Studies (CDS) at AAU, will (i) pursue outreach activities through community innovation platforms and ads straight in agricultural health, and also (ii) explore mainstreaming adaption to climate change into sustainable development plan at the community level. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The burden of disease from environmental and occupational hazards and climate change are of growing concern in East Africa, a region already facing challenges of malnutrition, poverty, and infectious diseases. To tackle these challenges, a comprehensive planning process involving information gathering and synthesis, and networking will be undertaken by a multi-disciplinary team from the US, Ethiopia and other East African countries towards the eventual establishment of a GEOHealth Hub for Fast Africa.