The African Forum for Research and Education for Health (AFREhealth) is proud to be the recipient of a $ 3,942,419 five-year grant award from the US National Institutes of Health’s Fogarty International Center (NIH/FIC). The overall objective of this grant is to strengthen AFREhealth as a pan-African multi-professional young association, through building squarely upon the highly productive experience and achievements of the PEPFAR-supported Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and Nursing Education Partnership Initiative (NEPI). The specific aims of the proposed grant are to:
1. Strengthen AFREhealth to become a leading, self-sustaining, pan-African inter-professional organization;
2. Provide strong professional skills development, inter-institutional and inter-professional partnerships, build collaborations, and shared learning to increase quantity, quality, and retention among African health workers;
3. Provide transformational leadership to increase productivity, impact, and visibility of African-led, locally relevant health research.

After completing a 2-year term, the first Executive Committee of AFREhealth led by Prof Peter Donkor, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, who  got the organization on a firm footing, handed over to the new leadership who were inducted into office during the closing ceremony on 8th August, 2018. They will serve a two-year term ending August, 2020. AFREhealth’s new President is Prof Marietjie De Villiers, Stellenbosch University. She previously served as Vice President from 2016-2018. Other members include Prof Abigail Kazembe, Vice President (University of Malawi), Prof Elsie Kiguli-Malwadde, Secretary, (African Centre for Health and Social Transformation, ACHEST) , Prof Vuyu Kanda Golakai, Treasurer  (University of Liberia)  and two other  members – Prof Nelson Sewankambo (Makerere University) and Prof Abdon Mukalay (University of Lubumbashi). The first Executive committee successfully organized two (2) annual symposia, developed governance structures, established a secretariat and a website, publicized AFREhealth on global platforms, and published  a special  supplement of the Annals of Global Health, dedicated to research by Africa. 

Dr Eric Goosby, a Professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and the UN special envoy on Tuberculosis, was the proud recipient of AFREhealth’s very first Citation of Honor on August 6, 2018 at its 2nd Annual Symposium held in Durban, South Africa. The citation was in appreciation of the central role Dr Goosby played in the MEPI and NEPI initiatives, out of which AFREhealth emerged. In addition to the citation,  the Governing Council of AFREhealth also made Dr Goosby its first Life Member. He is greatly appreciated for his courageous faith in investing in health professions education in Africa.

A meeting of the Governing Council of AFREhealth was held on 5th August, 2018 ahead of the Symposium. In attendance were representatives from collaborating institutions namely – Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), Primary Care and Family Medicine Education (Primafamed) Network, Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics (Jhpiego), Consortium of Universities for Global health (CUGH), Health Resource and Services Administration (HRSA), Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr Eric Goosby and other guests. 

The meeting discussed a wide range of issues covering governance, financial sustainability, the forthcoming and future symposia and leadership transition.  The next Governing Council meeting will be held in February in Gaborone, Botswana. The next annual symposium will be held in Nigeria and Prof David Olaleye was mandated to oversee preparations towards it and update the Council. The dates will be 6th – 8th August, 2019 but the venue is yet to be finalized.