​DEPARTMENT OF POPULATION HEALTH​​

Medical College, East Africa

Based in Nairobi, Kenya, the Aga Khan University’s newly established Department of Population Health entails a highly-skilled multi-disciplinary team with expertise in medical, public health, social, demography, statistical and policy sciences. Our vision is to contribute to the health of populations, particularly those most in need, by using a population health science approach.

Population Health is an emerging field of health science that represents a shift in how health events are traditionally observed and measured. By studying the context that shapes conditions and the distribution of care, population health science breaks down barriers that have traditionally separated studies of environmental health, nutrition, public health, community health, medical care, health care delivery, and other factors that affect wellness and well-being across the life cycle.

In line with the University, the Department is committed to the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge and its application, and the development of human capacities. Here, it seeks to prepare individuals to provide meaningful contributions to society through constructive and exemplary leadership roles, shaping public and private policies, and through excellence in population health research and education. 

In its early stages of development, the Department has the unique opportunity to build a conceptual population health framework for understanding health and disease, linking the determinants of health to the health and health care system from the perspective of the individual, community and population. 

Toward that end, the Department is interested in the ways in which cultures, ecosystems, institutions, and incentives affect health and health care provision and integrate findings from the medical, social, behavioral, environmental, economic, anthropological, psychological, legal, and political sciences.

As the first University with a Department of Population Health in East Africa, we will have the unique opportunity to introduce our discipline’s broad view to researchers, development professionals, health care managers, clinicians and policymakers. Our goal is to introduce a new, equitable and more scientific way of thinking about health that will help governments and local institutions tackle complex health issues both in the countries of East Africa and beyond.​​​

​Latest Ne​ws

Reproductive tract infections (RTIs), including sexually transmitted infections (STIs), are preventable and often curable health conditions. Public health officials consider Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum infections to be curable diseases. Read More


​​Latest News

Climate change represents one of the largest global health threats of the 21st century with immediate and long‐term consequences for the most vulnerable populations, especially in the poorest countries with the least capacity to adapt to climate change.​ Read More​




​Kaloleni Rabai Community Health and Demographic Surveillance System (KRHDSS)

KRHDSS was set up by Aga Khan University (AKU) and its partners at the Kaloleni and Rabai Sub-County Health Management Offices to strengthen the capacity of the local department of health for collection, processing and use of population-level health and vital events and provide a platform serving the Aga Khan University’s needs for population level research and academic programming.​ Read more​



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