A long-running international programme on trauma and injury research training at the University has been extended for a further five years in a move that aims to impact national and regional healthcare policy.
The new phase of the Johns Hopkins-Afghanistan-Pakistan International Collaborative Trauma and Injury Research Training programme (JHU-AFPAK-ICTIRT), will see faculty from AKU’s Emergency Medicine department conduct capacity building initiatives at leading public health institutions in Afghanistan.
Researchers at the Afghan Public Health Institute and the French Medical Institute for Mothers and Children in Kabul, which is managed by the Aga Khan University, will receive advanced training in research that will enable them to design interventions and to evaluate the most effective ways to prevent injuries related to road traffic crashes, violence, falls and other causes.
In addition, the programme also seeks to create the first doctoral programme in injury research in Pakistan at AKU which will lay the foundations for cutting edge academic and research initiatives for the region.
Dr Nadeem Ullah Khan, associate professor of Emergency Medicine at AKU: “Over 5 million people a year around the world die from injuries related to preventable causes inside and outside the home. There is a higher prevalence of these injuries in developing countries due to a lack of safety measures and a limited focus on preventive healthcare.
“The ambition of JHU-AFPAK-ICTIRT is to partner with health ministries and global bodies such as the World Health Organization so that insights from our evidence and interventions can inform health policy in developing nations like Afghanistan and Pakistan where it can make the greatest difference."
The JHU-AFPAK-ICTIRT aims to help both countries meet targets under the Sustainable Development Goals. Specifically, Goal 3 which calls for halving the global number of deaths and injuries caused by road traffic crashes by 2020 (the only target in Goal 3 that has a deadline before 2030) and Goal 11 that requires efforts to improve road safety and the availability of safe and sustainable transport systems for all by 2030.
The JHU-AFPAK-ICTIRT is the latest phase of a partnership between Johns Hopkins University and AKU that has been in place since 2005. To date 25 professionals from AKU and Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, have been trained in injury research at the master’s level through a combination of long-term courses and focused workshops.
