UWC-SOPH’s Olagoke Akintola, Woldekidan Amde, and Anam Nyembezi attended the 2nd edition of the hybrid Public Health Summit, an engaging platform for dialogue and collaboration, hosted by the University of Memphis School of Public Health from 23–25 March 2026.

The three-day event brought together participants from across the continent, representing partner institutions and associations of schools and programmes of public health.

During the summit, Prof. Olagoke Akintola and Dr. Woldekidan Amde contributed to three panel discussions alongside distinguished colleagues representing, among others, regional bodies such as the Africa CDC and the Association of Schools of Public Health in Africa (ASPHA). The first focused on “Health Security and Public Health Diplomacy in an African Context”. They also participated in a session on “Engaging Public Health Students and Practitioners in Applied Public Health Diplomacy”,  as well as “Exploring Experiential Learning Opportunities for Students in Public Health Diplomacy.”

The summit concluded on a high note, with participants agreeing on key action points for the next phase of collaboration. These include the establishment of a Public Health Diplomacy capacity-building group, identification of existing regional and international competency frameworks for public health diplomacy, and the development of an online interactive resource hub to disseminate public health diplomacy research. Additional outcomes include creating a centralized global repository of case studies on public health diplomacy, developing curriculum content to train a future workforce of public health diplomats, and establishing a virtual community of practice to advance the field across different organisations.