Research Groups

International Institute for Primary Health Care-Ethiopia

The International Institute for Primary Health Care-Ethiopia (IIfPHC-E) was officially established on February 1, 2016. It was created to disseminate information to low- and middle-income countries  about Ethiopia’s Health Extension Program (HEP) and Primary Health Care system and to share how these programs' remarkable successes in improving health enabled Ethiopia to meet the Millennium Development Goals for health. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health faculty members have played a key role as technical assistants, collaborators, and advisors to the Institute with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  

IIfPHC-E was established to meet the demand from other African countries to learn about the achievements of the HEP in Ethiopia. The Institute’s aim is to become a Center of Excellence in PHC, serving as a knowledge hub and a learning platform at both the regional and global levels. Since its inception, the Institute has built a strong partnership with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health and its directorates of PHC and the HEP, and Human Resources, as well as with local and international partners in the field of PHC.

The IIfPHC-E Strategy

Over the last five years, the Institute’s core technical support activities have centered around the four thematic areas below. For many of these initiatives, the Institute works closely with colleagues at the Bloomberg School and engages with a range of partners in Ethiopia and around the world. 

  1. Global PHC program support: The Global Program is the outward facing section of the Institute that aims to share Ethiopia’s best practices in PHC with other LMIC, while using lessons learned from LMIC in Africa and elsewhere to strengthen PHC in Ethiopia.
    1. The vision of the Global PHC Program is to be renown for providing fit-for-purpose and global-quality blended learning opportunities for leaders in PHC across Africa and other LMIC.
    2. The mission of the Global PHC Program is to strengthen PHC systems in LMIC, especially in Africa.
  2. National PHC program support: The National PHC Program supports the Ethiopian PHC system to ensure it remains exemplary and evolves to meet the needs of the Ethiopian people. 
    1. The vision of the National PHC Program is that Ethiopia’s PHC system will be seen as the global model of implementing the principles contained in the Declaration of Alma-Ata.
    2. The mission of the National PHC Program is to transform leaders and PHC systems to maximize impact on the health of the Ethiopian people.
  3. PHC knowledge generation and management: The vision of the Knowledge Generation and Management thematic area is that Ethiopia will be seen as a knowledge powerhouse for PHC across Africa and globally. To advance this vision, the knowledge generation and management thematic area consists of two complementary programmatic areas: 
    1. Implementation research; and,
    2. the PHC knowledge center (Resource Center).
  4. Promotion and partnerships to advance the PHC agenda: The Declaration of Alma-Ata was issued in 1978. Forty years later at the Global Conference on Primary Health Care in Astana, world leaders re-affirmed that strong PHC is essential to achieve universal health coverage. That said, the lure of high-tech approaches to curative cure means that poor people at the bottom of the pyramid are often left out when decisions are made about health system resources. 
    1. The vision of the Promotion Program is that policy makers around the world, especially in LMIC, recognize the importance of robust PHC systems and embrace the concept of Health for All.
    2. The mission of this program is to increase awareness, knowledge, and importance of PHC in Ethiopia and internationally.

JHSPH Faculty involved with this collaboration

The principal investigator is Mike Klag, MD, MPH '87, Second Century Distinguished Professor and dean emeritus. Meike Schleiff, DrPH '17, MSPH '13, assistant scientist, serves as the technical lead for PHC and manages the curriculum-related collaborations with the Institute team. A number of other Bloomberg School faculty members serve as advisors and have contributed to the work of the Institute over the past five years. 

Learn more about the Institute and check out the Institute's online learning platform.