Learning Across Borders: Exploring HIV and Health Inequities in Sub-Saharan Africa

SANTHE, Simon Fraser University (SFU), and the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) recently co-hosted its annual HIV and youth intensive course entitled “Interdisciplinary Approaches to Understanding the Global Burden of HIV and Health Inequities among Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa”. Held at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine in Durban, South Africa, the course brought together 22 participants, including senior undergraduate and master’s students from Canada, participants from South Africa, and SANTHE Fellows from Botswana, Cameroon, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The programme ran from 4–15 May 2026 under the leadership of Malcolm Steinberg from SFU’s Faculty of Health Sciences. It combined lectures, laboratory tours, group work and field-based activities, aiming to strengthen global public health skills whilst exposing participants to the complex social, behavioural, biomedical, and structural factors shaping HIV outcomes among young people in South Africa.

Steinberg noted that the exchange between participants from different countries, disciplines, and backgrounds remained one of the most valuable aspects of the course. Through collaborative learning and discussion, participants gained a deeper understanding of the challenges and inequities shaping the HIV epidemic across diverse settings in sub-Saharan Africa.

For many, the experiential learning component left a lasting impact, with one participant reflecting, “The field trips made everything real and meaningful.“

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