Challenges of Teaching and Researching Physiology in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) consists of 47 countries with a population of 910 million (http:/worldbank.org/region/SSA). There are presently 168 Medical Schools in SSA, with 26 in Nigeria and 8 in the Republic of South Africa (3). SSA is plagued by multifarious factors that present an uphill task to achieving acceptable milestones to developmental objectives. The region contains the largest number of countries that have the least GDP among all other nations in the world; for example, although the GDP (in USD) for period 2008–2013 (data.worldbank.org/indicator/ NY.GDP.PCAP.CD) in the U.S., UK, and Australia are 51,749, 30,093, and 67,556 respectively, the majority of SSA countries have GDPs of less than $2,000.00, except South Africa with $7,508. The estimated GDP of Nigeria is $1,555.00. Coupled with this low income level is a high disease burden, which competes for available resources. In addition, the per capita spending on higher education has been estimated to be less than $4,000.00 in SSA (2). Despite the low GDP, most of the countries are plagued by corruption and inept governments as well as political instability, civil strife, and wars that deplete the available, meager resources. The result of this is limited funding for the provision of adequate resources, both human and fiscal, for the proper training at university/higher education level in SSA. In addition, of the few numbers that we are able to train, a large percentage is lost via brain drain to advanced countries in the West. The impact of these observations on teaching and research challenges in physiology in SSA cannot be overemphasised.