Ruben Marwanga, Congressman Donald Payne, and George Njenga

In the occasional paper no. 4 on Management Sciences for Health, USAID observes that "there is a view in some international health circles that the best way for developed countries to help developing countries attain their health goals is to provide ample drugs, resources, and short-term health and technical assistance workers".

"These inputs are important but need to be augmented to produce sustainable results. Doctors, nurses, and increasingly, non-clinical managers need to be better prepared  to lead teams to achieve results and effectively lead change so that they are able to succeed in achieving health goals," the paper says.

SBS will launch its programme in October. As a preparation for the programme, SBS Director Mr George Njenga was in Washington DC mid-July under the auspices of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation where he delivered a talk titled 'Strengthening Human Resource Management in Health Care'.

Mr Njenga with Mr Tom Pyle, the Director of Strathmore Foundation, and Strathmore Alumni and Friends Association (STRAFA) Washington DC leader Ruben Marwanga also met Congressman Donald Payne, Chairman, Africa and Global Health Subcommittee, United States Congress. This Congressional subcommittee allocates all US foreign aid funding for Africa and global health issues, like AIDS.

Mr Njenga and Mr Pyle also met Miss Sheri Rickert who works for the Africa and Global Health subcommittee members from the minority party, the Republicans. Ms Rickert is also the staff legal counsel to Congressman Chris Smith, the "ranking" or senior minority party. Chris Smith might visit Kenya in August.

They also visited Jeanine Scott, Senior Vice President and Dr Charles DeBose, the Director Office of Health and HIV/AIDS and talked about the possibilities of jointly sponsored health care management training programs. Mr Njenga explained Strathmore's emphasis on private sector solutions.