The BDIAP is proud of our support for pathology education in Africa. Several years ago we supported a pathology trainee from Kenya to train in the Republic of South Africa; this trainee is now an established Consultant in Nairobi and Secretary of the new East African Division of the IAP.
East Africa also has an East African-British School of Pathology (EABSoP) similar to the Arab, Bosnian and Sri Lankan schools. The EABSoP is an annual event which began in 2009 (GI); 2010 was on Breast with 2011 being Head & Neck pathology.
It was clear that many laboratories in East Africa had serious problems with technical quality. So we have started the East African Technical Training Workshop run by Olorunda Rotimi, Peter & Vanessa Jackson from Leeds; this is jointly sponsored by the IBMS. Two courses, each of 4 days, were run in 2010 in Dar es Salaam with the 2011 course being in Nairobi in September.
The BDIAP also sends “goodwill ambassadors” to support and lecture in national and international meetings in Africa, including a yearly sponsorship for the South African Divisional Meeting and two yearly for the APECSA (Association of Pathologists of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa) Meetings. The US and Canadian Division, USCAP, has established its “Friends of Africa” programme. Thus the efforts of USCAP, the BDIAP, the French Division and the exploits in Northern Africa through the Arab Division all serve to provide some support for pathology education to a continent with particular problems. For example, one of the BDIAP member countries is the Netherlands which has around 20 million people and about 400 established pathologists. In stark contrast, Zambia, with a similar population, has, at the last count, just two. We are really only scratching the surface of pathology education in Africa…….
In October 2008 BDIAP councillor Alec Howat (now International Secretary) and General Secretary (now President) Neil Shepherd, went on a fact finding visit to Kenya to discover how best the BDIAP can further their help in Africa. The report of that visit by Alec Howat can be found as a pdf file here:
Report by Alec Howat for BDIAP Council on Support for sub-Saharan Anglophone African Pathology
Pathology Senior Lecturer Posts available in Zambia, follow this link