Afghanistan has very few Master’s in Public Health (MPH)-educated professionals and requires educated personnel to improve the country’s poor health outcomes, such as high child and maternal mortality rates. To address this need, USAID is supporting the development of an MPH program at Kabul Medical University (KMU) – the first graduate degree program to be offered at KMU. The program expects to draw students from Kabul, Hirat, Kandahar, Kapisa, Khost, and Nangarhar provinces.
A task force meets every two weeks to discuss and design the MPH so that future graduates can better address the public health care needs of the Afghan people. The task force includes members from USAID, the Ministry of Public Health, the donor community, non-governmental organizations, and Kabul Institute of Health. Ultimately, the task force will develop a viable, sustainable curriculum tailored to the Afghan context.