Press Release

New Partnership to Strengthen the University of Namibia

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Namibia, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), is supporting the University of Washington’s (U.W.) International Training and Education Center on HIV (I-TECH) to strengthen the master of public health degree program at the University of Namibia (UNAM).

This new grant will support a new partnership between U.W. and UNAM, with the objective of increasing public health faculty development and retention, student recruitment and retention; and a broader array of curriculum and course pathways. The other partner in the collaboration is The University of the Western Cape (UWC) in South Africa.

This collaboration between faculty, content experts and academic leaders at UW, UNAM and UWC will support the development of two new Certificate programs in Nutrition and Strategic Information, a degree program in Health Policy and Management, the integration of HIV and AIDS content into MPH courses, and bolstering of health library services.

Additionally, UW and UWC faculty will bring the institutional experiences and resources of their universities to develop expanded opportunities for professional development and academic exchanges, and to consider strategies for recruiting non-traditional students to the MPH program and increasing thesis and research support toward graduation rates.
CDC will support this collaboration over the next five years.

The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was launched in 2003 to combat global HIV/AIDS, and is the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in history.  Working in partnership with host nations, over ten years PEPFAR plans to support treatment for at least 3 million people, prevention of 12 million new infections, and care for 12 million people, including 5 million orphans and vulnerable children.  In 2009, PEPFAR Namibia will commit $US 108 million to fight HIV/AIDS alongside our Namibian partners.

For more information, please contact Public Affairs Officer, Ray Castillo, at 0811280816, or Information Assistant, Roger Lyners, at 229801 (ext. 226).