Strengthening Public Health Leadership in Africa: An Innovative Fellowship Program

Area of Science:

• Global Health
• Public Health Policy
• Leadership Development

Background:

• The Ebola crisis highlighted significant health policy and system deficiencies in West Africa.
• A shortage of skilled public health policy leaders hinders effective health improvement in the region.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish an innovative fellowship program to develop and retain public health leaders in West Africa.
• To address the critical need for enhanced leadership capabilities in regional health policy.

Main Methods:

• Chatham House established the West African Global Health Leaders Fellowship, a "sandwich" model program.
• The fellowship included intensive leadership and policy training in Europe, a 10-month in-country policy project, and mentorship.
• Emphasis was placed on practical learning, site visits, resource identification, and networking.

Main Results:

• The pilot phase demonstrated the success of the "sandwich" fellowship model in enhancing leadership skills.
• The program effectively retained talent within Africa by integrating training with in-country projects.
• The fellowship model proved to be minimally disruptive to participants' professional lives.

Conclusions:

• The "sandwich" fellowship model is a viable and effective strategy for developing public health leaders in Africa.
• This approach offers significant potential for strengthening health policy and systems across the region.
• The successful pilot led to the expansion of the fellowship program.