Strengthening Primary Health Care by a South-South-North Collaboration

WHO Collaborating Centre (WHO-CC) is a title granted to research institutes due to their contribution to the World Health Organization's programmes at large. Globally, most WHO-CCs for Family Medicine (FM) and Primary Care (PC) are located in high-income countries, with no representation from the African region. Our project aims to set up a new collaboration of the tandem UGent-Stellenbosch University with 2 Sub-Saharan African institutions with expertise on PC and FM and enable these institutes to become WHO-CCs. The prestige of becoming a WHO-CC will put these Sub-Saharan institutions in better positions to influence the global agenda of health priorities and challenges. A joint trajectory involving research, education and policy translation will be drawn with all institutions around three central themes: interdisciplinary working in primary care, health systems thinking and translating knowledge into policy. Ghent University will offer advanced online courses, research projects, calls for small research grants, internships and dissemination events. Stellenbosch University will link with the African Doctoral Academy for courses for the partnering institutions. The WHO head office and WHO AFRO will be involved in all steps to guarantee the activities can evolve into sustainable collaborations.