£1.2 million partnership to address neglected tropical diseases in Africa
Posted on 25 October 2023
.png "a CHE researcher discussing her work with a senior Ugandan policy-maker at the Malawi workshop 2019")
A generous grant from the Global Institute for Disease Elimination (GLIDE), is supporting The Centre for Health Economics (CHE) at the University of York, Imperial College London, and the East Central and Southern African Health Community (ECSA-HC) on Thanzi Labwino (‘Better Health’) (TLab), to establish partnerships between academic, policy, and community stakeholders for disseminating new knowledge on disease elimination.
GLIDE is a global health Institute based in Abu Dhabi, focused on accelerating the elimination of preventable infectious diseases of poverty: currently malaria, polio, lymphatic filariasis, and river blindness, by 2030 and beyond. Founded in 2019 as the result of a long-standing collaboration between His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GLIDE works to elevate awareness and engagement, advance elimination strategies, and foster and scale innovation.
“Our goal is to improve health outcomes and access to quality healthcare among the most vulnerable in Southern and East Africa, with the outcome of accelerating disease elimination in those regions.” Simon Bland, CEO of GLIDE
The award of the Thanzi Labwino (Better Health) research project by GLIDE, also unlocked match-funding from the University of York to support a cohort of 12 talented African students to undertake the Health Economics Distance Learning (HEDL) programme offered by the University’s Department for Economics & Related Studies, and achieve an MSc in Health Economics over the course of three years, strengthening the health economics capacity across East and Southern Africa. The first cohort of Thanzi Studentship recipients was appointed and commenced their studies on 25 September 2023.
The Thanzi Labwino project is part of the broader Thanzi Programme which is led by the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York, in collaboration with partners in Malawi, Uganda and the UK.
This gift reflects the University of York's desire to make a difference not only locally but globally. Philanthropy is a great way to bring together a variety of people and organisations to work together to tackle health inequalities, one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century.