The information below pertains to PAHO/WHO funding for MPH scholarships, and was provided by the PAHO/WHO Guyana Office.

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1. Planning of fellowships: In future, this will be based on national HRH development/training plan following the development of a National HR Strategic Plan. In view of this, the National HR Strategic Plan needs to be URGENTLY revisited. Ideally, the award of Fellowships is to help meet HR national priority health Programme /service needs. It should also take into account the health professionals' training needs for career advancement where possible.

2. Advertisement: There will be advertisement for 5 awards towards the UG MPH programme to which qualified persons could apply. To apply, one needs to be qualified for the programme at UG and must be given an acceptance letter. The awards will be fully advertised and all Guyanese (not necessarily Ministry of Public Health staff alone) who qualify can then apply. Even though public advertisement will raise unnecessary expectations/false hopes, it is necessary for the process to be transparent.

3. Selection: There is going to be a Scholarships Committee set up by the Ministry of Public Health to review applications for the scholarships. There will be a PAHO/WHO representative on the panel to serve as an Adviser /Observer (without voting rights) in accordance with WHO rules. It is recommended to try to have one person from UG to sit on the committee to also serve as an advisor as well. The selection by the committee will then have to be approved by the Minister of Health.

Once a Fellow is selected by the committee and approved by the Minister, s/he is then directed to PAHO for further review and processing. The process will start this year (2016/2017) and the advertisement will be issued soon.