The German-West African Centre for Global Health and Pandemic Prevention is being funded since May 2021 within the DAAD-programme Global Centres for Health and Pandemic Prevention with means of the Federal Foreign Office. 

The aim of G-WAC is to establish a German-West African Centre for Global Health and Pandemic Prevention based at the KNUST-College of Health Sciences in Kumasi, Ghana, that will address the existential threat of global pandemics to the health and welfare of people. Through trans- and inter-disciplinary research projects targeting both the main drivers of pandemics (e.g. health impact of wild habitat encroachment, extensive agriculture and climate change, spill over of pathogens from wild animals to humans) and the key pillars of resilient health systems in the WHO framework (e.g. effective governance, sustainable financing mechanisms, appropriate human resource capacity, availability of essential medicines and technology, reliable health information, and
responsive health service delivery) are being examined using One Health approaches. 

Measures: 

• Creation of a new joint Global Health PhD training programme and PhD-scholarships
• Series of short courses in Pandemic Prevention/Preparedness
• Scholarships for West-African policymakers, practitioners and researchers
• Bi-directional mobility scheme for PhD and MSc students and postdoctoral researchers
• West-African Pandemic Preparedness Policy Dialogues and outreach events

 

Back to: Global Centres for Climate and Environment as well as for Health and Pandemic Prevention