title: From conflict to collaboration, local political climate accelerates ITREOH's regionalization in South Asia.
abstract: As Pakistan becomes industrialized, the development of human resources is essential to addressing emerging health problems. The Fogarty International Center (FIC)-funded University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)-Aga Khan University (AKU) ITREOH initiative has been instrumental in filling the gaps in environmental and occupational health (EOH) training and research. Because of travel impediments to Pakistan, a regional short-term training program was implemented in Nepal and Sri Lanka. Workshop participants were from Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, and Bangladesh. The training programs enhanced north-to-south and south-to-south collaboration in research and training in South Asia. A major impact is the development of a certificate program in EOH at AKU. Research initiatives of regional and/or global concern are also under way in the other participating countries. The combination of face-to-face training with Web-based interaction for follow-up was optimal for short-term training.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama 352924, USA. nalini@uab.edu
authors.forename: Nalini
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sathiakumar
authors.forename: Naveed Zafar
authors.initials: NZ
authors.lastname: Janjua
authors.forename: Masood
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kadir
authors.forename: Alexis Mclean
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Spokes
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Sibylle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kristensen
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Delzell
mesh_terms: D001208:Asia; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004782:Environmental Health; D006801:Humans; D016272:Occupational Health