Inauguration Of Central Africa Field Epidemiology And Laboratory Training Program

Tuesday, October 26, 2010, 10:00 Am

Your Excellency the Minister of Higher Education; Honorable Rector of University of Yaounde 1; Representatives of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Madame the Representative of the World Health Organization; Representatives of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; General Coordinator of the Central Africa Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program; Distinguished guests,

Thank you for inviting me to participate in this historic event, the inauguration of the Central Africa Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP).  We have arrived at this wonderful occasion, after barely a year of planning, through the joint efforts of the Cameroonian Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry of Public Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the CDC Foundation.

FELTP is modeled after CDC’s Epidemiologic Intelligence Service, whose investigators have tracked down some of the world’s most puzzling and deadly disease outbreaks, including the 1976 Ebola epidemic in then Zaire and Sudan, the original Legionnaire’s Disease outbreak in Philadelphia, the first U.S. appearance of West Nile Virus in 1999, and most recently, the recurring outbreaks of cholera in northern Cameroon.

CDC started training programs in applied epidemiology and laboratory science in 1980 in order to help partner nations strengthen their public health infrastructure.  Since 1980, over 50 national and regional FELTP programs have been launched around the world, producing over 2,100 epidemiologists and laboratorians.  Trainees and graduates of the programs have led investigations in their home countries of HIV infection among hard-to-reach populations; avian and H1N1 influenza; outbreaks of polio and measles among vaccinated populations; and many other public health emergencies.

The launch of FELTP in Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Democratic Republic of Congo is part of President Obama’s Global Health Initiative, putting into practice the U.S. Government’s commitment to build the capacity of partner nations to address their public health needs with indigenous resources, not the least of which are the elite public health specialists produced by FELTP.  37 of the 52 FELTP programs started by CDC around the world now operate independently of U.S. Government support.  80% of the program’s graduates remain in the public health sector, and many obtain leadership positions within their country’s health system.

The President’s Global Health Initiative, in addition to building sustainability by encouraging country ownership and strengthening health systems, emphasizes coordination and integration of all U.S. government efforts in country.  Thus, the support currently provided by CDC to the Ministry of Public Health in HIV Surveillance, Blood Safety, Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV, Strategic Information, and Laboratory Systems Strengthening will not only help sustain the Cameroon FELTP program, but will have greater impact on the health of Cameroonians because of the contributions of FELTP.

I applaud both the collaborative effort and the commitment to developing indigenous resources that have made the Central Africa FELTP program possible.  I expect to see many more examples of this collaboration and commitment during my tenure here in Cameroon.

Thank you.