FPD prioritises the professionalization of health
management, addressing the human resources for
health (HRH) crisis, the professionalization of health
education, as well as the development of models to
integrate public-private sector service delivery. In
addition, FPD focuses on addressing climate change
and its impact on health and improving access to
Mental Health services to overcome a 90% treatment
access gap.
The Professionalization of health management will
hopefully become a high priority for governments,
donors and implementing partners. The sudden
cessation of USAID funding has exposed the
weaknesses of the current management model in
the health sector that favours non-professionals.
Professional and effective leadership and
management are not only essential for successful
implementation of health policies but are prerequisites
for dealing with crisis situations. FPD supports the
consensus that healthcare management needs to be
professionalized, with formal qualifications becoming
a requirement for managerial positions. The realities
of the dramatic reduction of donor funding to the
African health sector, has brought an urgency to
professionalizing health management. According to
the World Health organization 50% of health resources
are wasted in Africa due to an amateur management
model that prioritizes health professionals without
management expertise for management positions.
FPD has unique and long-standing relationships
with the Alliance Manchester Business School and
the Yale School of Public Health allowing us to bring
ivy league management qualifications to African
health leaders at a fraction of the cost of international
pricing. FPD also has several SAQA accredited health
management qualifications on offer. Together these
qualifications create a ladder of learning designed to
facilitate managerial development from entry level to
executive level. FPD furthermore has a large portfolio
of customized short learning programmes on offer
that is ideal for upskilling health managers who have
become dependent on donor sponsored technical
advisors.
WHO estimates a shortfall of approximately 11 million
health workers by 2030, mostly in low- and lower
middle income countries, Addressing the Human
Resources for Health (HRH) crisis locally, regionally
and globally has become imperative and involves
tackling challenges such as the shortage of health
workers, inadequate training and education, the brain
drain, and the unequal distribution of health workers.
It is a strategic objective of FPD to help solve some
of these problems by using online technology and
distributed learning platforms. FPD has a 28-year
history of serving the public good through sponsored
training, technical assistance to government and
substantial on the ground service delivery. As such we
believe we are well positioned to break through the
local political reluctance to allow the private sector
into undergraduate health care professional training
in South Africa. We are also well positioned - although
this may require establishing a presence outside of
South Africa - to help meet the continent’s massive
shortfall of health care professionals and the need for importing qualified care givers in the global north due
to a rapidly aging population.
Professionalizing health education is essential for
improving health outcomes. Health educators
must have strong competencies to design and
deliver evidence-based programs. Continuous
professional development (CPD) can enhance these
competencies, leading to better health outcomes.
FPD has unique postgraduate qualifications in health
professions education and leadership and a longstanding
relationship with the Association for Health
Professions Education and Leadership (AHPEL), a pan
African society of health professions educators that
allows us access to their network of alumni across
Africa. FPDs CPD accreditation status via SAMA ensures
that most African health statutory bodies accept
FPD CPD Certificates. The importance of educational
agility and the feasibility of online learning to rapidly
develop health professions capacity in Africa was
demonstrated by FPD's ability to rapidly develop and
deploy customized in-service training programmes
during the COVID-19 pandemic, when we pivoted to
online learning and launched 39 new short learning
online programmes in 18 months. FPD demonstrated
that MOOCs[GM2.1] are feasible in the African context
reaching 30 000 healthcare professionals and
through incorporating behavioural sciences into
these programmes achieved a certification rate 400%
higher than the international norm.
Improving access to mental health care and wellbeing
is a dangerously neglected health and economic
priority. The World Economic Forum calculated in
2010 that mental health conditions cost the world
economy approximately US$ 2.5 trillion in 2010, due
to lost productivity (US$ 1.7 trillion) and direct costs of
care (US$ 0.8 trillion). This cost was projected to rise
to US$ 6 trillion by 2030. In South Africa, the economic
impact of only anxiety and depression amongst the
employed workforce is estimated to cost the economy
ZAR 170-210 billion per annum. Workplace interventions
have been shown by the World Bank to deliver a 500%
ROI. However, a critical shortage of mental health
providers translates to a situation that 90% of people
seeking mental health care, are unable to access any
such care. FPD is one of a small group of educational
institutions on the continent with a strong focus on
finding affordable solutions for the mental health
HRH crisis having developed an affordable solution
in the form of our lay Interpersonal Counsellor (IPC)
qualification that not only address this treatment gap
but also addresses the massive youth unemployment
challenge in Africa.
Climate change poses a profound threat to health
across Africa, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and
widening health inequities. According to WHO, climate
change is expected to cause approximately 250 000
additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050.
Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and
shifting rainfall patterns are increasing the spread
of vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue,
while worsening food insecurity and malnutrition.
Water scarcity and poor sanitation heighten the risk of
diarrheal diseases, and climate-related displacement
fuels mental health stress and weakens health system
resilience. Communities already burdened by poverty
and limited healthcare access face the brunt of
these impacts. Urgent, coordinated action is needed
to integrate climate adaptation into health planning
and build climate-resilient, equitable healthcare
systems across Africa creating opportunities for FPD
in our educational, conferencing and research units.
The Deputy CEO of FPD is one of the region’s leading
recognized experts in health and climate change.
Developing models to integrate public-private service
delivery to support universal health care (UHC)
currently being explored in Africa. The critical role
of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in combating
the HIV & TB epidemics, has only recently become a
mainstream strategy in the region. PPPs will also be
critical to fill the void left by the withdrawal of USAID
funding and staff that in many countries provided the
bulk of the national AIDS response. FPDs subsidiary PPO
Serve is arguably the continental leader in developing
such models and a major resource for implementation
science research. Their commercial model can also
be rapidly expanded across the region.
