Hearty injection to business and health

UCT's Oliver Tambo Fellowship Programme has received a cash injection of R16 million from Atlantic Philanthropies, an international philanthropic organisation that funds programmes in ageing, children and youth, health in developing countries and reconciliation.

Since 1996 the programme has trained senior managers in the public health sector. The programme will be re-launched in September as a 50/50 partnership between the UCT School of Public Health and Family Medicine (SPHFM) and the UCT Graduate School of Business (GSB). This programme was initiated by the SPHFM in 1996 and was funded by the Kaiser Family Foundation until 2004.

The Atlantic grant, which runs from 2007 to 2011, will give public health managers a high-quality, multi-disciplinary qualification, said Professor Frank Horwitz, GSB director.

A group of about 25 students will enter the programme each year.

Each provincial health department will nominate two fellows. One will be paid for in full by the programme and the other paid for by the sending department, said Professor Rodney Ehrlich, SPHFM director.

"If we look at analyses of health systems globally, a frequent diagnosis is the lack of management capacity," Ehrlich said. "What has emerged is a need not only for expertise on health matters and ability to implement policy, but also for leadership, change management and business skills."

Two blocks will be taught by the SPHFM and will cover areas including health systems development, health care policy and implementation.

The UCT GSB blocks of the programme will include leadership and strategic management, management of organisational change and the systematic "soft skills" of leadership.

Two posts to run the programme are currently being advertised - a professor/associate professor in health systems/health policy and a senior lecturer in health management.