Aga Khan University, in collaboration with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA, has been awarded a grant from the Fogarty International Center of the United States National Institutes of Health, to co-develop research training courses in Karachi and abroad for Pakistani health professionals wishing to advance their expertise in occupational and environmental health.  The program is to be led at AKU by Dr Franklin White and Dr Masood Kadir, and at UAB by Dr Nalini Sathiakumar and Dr Elizabeth Delzell, with support from other colleagues at both centres.  The total value of the grant is approximately half a million US dollars, spread over a period of 5 years.

The grant will be used in the first instance to bring experts from UAB to AKU to help the Department of Community Health Sciences build upon its own developing capacity in this critical area of public health research and development, as well as to sponsor selected trainees for advanced education abroad. The AKU department has already conducted landmark studies into environmental lead exposure and the adverse health impacts of water quality, and the grant will assist in developing further studies in these areas, as well as develop expertise in other priority areas such as vector control, pesticide exposures, noise and air pollution, and the assessment of workplace health and safety. 

AKU last year concluded a study of blood lead levels in a large representative sample of Karachi children revealing that 80% have levels above a level recognized internationally to be associated with risk for neurological impairment, and in some instances more serious toxic effects.  A study of diarrhoea in remote northern villages demonstrated the critical importance of water, sanitation and hygiene interventions in reducing the incidence of this leading cause of child mortality throughout the country. Both studies emphasize that medical care is an inadequate response to such health problems, and that root causes of environmental contamination must be tackled, through public health measures such as eliminating lead in petrol and ensuring access to safe potable water.

Initially AKU and UAB will launch short courses, targeting participants from universities, industry, regulatory agencies and environmental NGOs. They will also co-host workshops on priority topics, and develop medium and longer term degree training options for Pakistanis at both institutions, that go beyond the usual limits of traditional; medical education.  The long term aim is to develop indigenous capacity within Pakistan for all levels of training relevant to these critically important aspects of public health.