Recent events in the United States cast doubt on the future of a major framework for public health research and praxis in Africa – collaborations between implementing partners in Africa and partners based in the United States and supported by U.S. federal funding. In particular, the drastic and sudden cuts to USAID and PEPFAR and the announcement that the U.S. will withdraw from the WHO have upended decades of planning and program development for HIV/AIDS and other health concerns in many African countries and around the world.
This panel seeks to bring into conversation experts on the history of these partnerships and antecedent forms of public health work in Africa (variously characterized as colonial medicine, tropical medicine, and international health) with experts on contemporary policy and the impacts of programs funded by USAID and/or PEPFAR or in partnership with institutions based outside the continent. Submissions from historians, anthropologists, political scientists, sociologists, and scholars from other disciplines whose work will inform a conversation about the past, present, and future of public health in Africa are welcome.
Papers may address the following questions: When and why have entities in Africa made agreements with entities outside the continent in pursuit of health goals? When and why have those agreements been modified, broken, or expanded beyond their original remit? How have different institutions or communities in Africa negotiated with universities, governments, and non-profit organizations from around the world to broker access to resources for health? How has the success or failure of these partnerships been measured and by whom? Whose health has benefited from these partnerships and what forms of health have been neglected? What alternate visions for the development of health infrastructure, expertise, and resource development in Africa have been proposed and/or implemented? How might African institutions and communities pursue health goals when international partners fail to meet their commitments or redirect their efforts to other projects?
Submissions challenging the categories employed in this abstract are welcome and the final panel abstract will reflect the content of the constituent abstracts.
For more information or to discuss an idea for the panel, please email Jcummis1@jh.edu. To be considered for inclusion, please email your abstract (<250 words) and a short bio to jcummis1@jh.edu by March 3. Decisions regarding inclusion in the panel will be communicated by March 10 to allow for individual paper submission.
