BY TERESA BARKER
L
ike aging infrastructure anywhere, the weathered cement-block building that houses the Ghana Health Service is hardly impressive. But the health service and its regional outreach programs actually are part of a dynamic infrastructure, one that is transforming health and health care in col-
PHOTO BY ARNIE KANTER
Scholarship-based partnerships with regional colleagues and local residents are a cornerstrone of the Center for Global Health. Included in this group photo, taken several years ago in Ghana, are philanthropists Susan and Richard Kiphart (center, front row and back row), and physicians Funmi Olopade (middle row, far right) and Sola Olopade (standing, second from left).
The benefits of global health partnerships extend both ways. For example, research into breast cancer among Nigerian women produced new biological insights that are being used to advance cancer treatment for African American patients in Chicago.
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laboration with the University of Chicago Center for Global Health (CGH). Through education, research, training and service programs, CGH and its partners in Ghana and elsewhere are defining the new “bricks and mortar” of global health partnership. “I had walked past that building a number of times in our previous trips to Ghana, and just looking at this bedraggled building with a rusty sign, it was hard to imagine much going on inside,” said Susan Kiphart, a Chicago philanthropist, who, with her late husband, Richard, discovered a different reality when they stepped into a global health collaboration with CGH. The Kipharts had already been doing philanthropic work in Ghana for years when a mutual friend introduced them to CGH leaders Olufunmilayo (Funmi) Olopade, MD, the director, and Christopher Sola Olopade, MD, MPH, the clinical director. On a subsequent trip to Ghana, the Kipharts met with the Olopades to learn more about the region, the people, and the public health challenges. “We were able to see Africa through their eyes, through their
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION
deep understanding of the people and the culture, as Nigerians themselves, and through their capacity to see what is not apparent to American eyes,” Susan Kiphart said. “Some people might look around and see what isn’t there and think ‘Oh, they have nothing, there’s nothing to be done,’ but Funmi and Sola step past that and find the strength in people — and there is a lot of strength.” As they would discover in long Jeep rides into the most remote communities with the Olopades, a sophisticated network of community health workers had been highly effective in some vital targeted initiatives, such as infant and child vaccinations and parent education on child development. Cell phones were ubiquitous in almost every community and created a vibrant health support network for sharing information, encouragement or practical support among women and health care providers. In contrast to the tired façade of the building in town, Susan Kiphart said, “there was a lot going on — it just did not look like the Western model.” Building on strengths The Kipharts’ partnership with CGH eventually expanded to improve management of a growing system of wells and clean-water projects, develop new educational programs and strengthen state support for staffing new schools, and launch public health initiatives to improve maternal and child health, adolescent health and career counseling. Another project, providing clean-burning cook stoves to Nigerian families, improved indoor air quality and decreased incidence of respiratory illnesses. And research into breast cancer among Nigerian women produced new biological insights that are being used to advance cancer treatment for African American patients on Chicago’s South Side. In these and all CGH projects, the philosophy of partnership and reciprocity is embedded in every facet through community engagement, Funmi Olopade said. CGH leverages the institutional strength of the University of Chicago to bring together faculty and students from different schools and programs with peers and mentors globally in fields such as epidemiology, biostatistics, economics, sociology, anthropology, law, ethics and human rights. The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine’s four-year Global Health Track combines academic, clinical and research components to train students to work effectively in any global setting, not only with individual patients, but also with health systems,