Teaching and research on essential medicines in Rwanda

01/09/2018 to 31/08/2020

The Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen (EKUT) and the University of Rwanda (UR) concluded a Memorandum of Understanding in December 2017. The present project is intended to strengthen and deepen this new university partnership through a concrete joint venture project involving the exchange of students and lecturers and the joint organization of courses, workshops and student research projects.
The University of Rwanda is unique in the East African Community through its Regional Centre of Excellence for Health Supply Chain Management (www.hscm.ur.ac.rw). A Master Course in Health Supply Chain Management has been offered there since 2017 with the aim of training specialists in the supply of essential drugs and vaccines to Rwanda and other East African countries. The Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen is unique in Germany with its course "Pharmacy in Global Health" (www.pharmbiol.uni-tuebingen.de/ak-heide/77661.html). Since 2016, this course has been training pharmacy students and pharmacists for full-time or voluntary work in the pharmaceutical field in developing countries and in disaster situations.
In the present project, the unique courses offered by the two universities will be linked for the mutual benefit of students, lecturers and know-how exchange. At the same time, the research strength of the University of Tübingen will be used to support pharmaceutical Master's and doctoral research projects at the University of Rwanda. The following activities are planned:
1) Short-term stays of lecturers from Tübingen in Rwanda for teaching within the framework of the Master Course in Health Supply Chain Management at the University of Rwanda, and for project-accompanying supervision of German exchange students on site in Rwanda.
2) Short-term stays of lecturers from the University of Rwanda for teaching within the framework of the course "Pharmacy in Global Health" at the University of Tübingen, and for project-accompanying supervision of Rwandan exchange students on site in Tübingen.
3) Short-term stays of participants of the course "Pharmacy in Global Health" in Rwanda for the implementation of the student research project together with Rwandan students.
4) Short-term stays of Rwandan students in Tübingen to participate in the English part of the course "Pharmacy in Global Health" together with German students and to visit German institutions of pharmaceutical development cooperation and the pharmaceutical supply chain.
5) Training of lecturers and students of the University of Rwanda on appropriate methods for chemical analysis of drugs, and development of corresponding courses at the University of Rwanda.
6) Joint research on availability, affordability and quality of essential drugs in Rwanda by Rwandan and German students.
7) Joint project workshops in Tübingen and Rwanda on "Availability, Affordability and Quality of Essential Medicines".