The 1st EAC regional steering committee for the EAC regional Centres of excellencies for higher Medical education, Health services and research was successfully convened at the EAC Headquarters from 25th to 26th Feb 2019. The meeting involved deliberated on operationalisation of  the following five (5) EAC Regional Centres of Excellence for Skills and Tertiary Education in Higher Medical and Health Sciences Education, Health Services and Research: 

1. East African Center of Excellence for Nephrology and Urology – Republic of Kenya
2. East African Center of Excellence for Cardiovascular Health Sciences - United Republic of Tanzania
3. East African Center of Excellence for Oncology - Republic of Uganda 
4. East African Center of Excellence in Biomedical engineering, ehealth and health rehabilitation - Republic of Rwanda
5. East African Center of Excellence for vaccines, Immunization and Health Supply Chain Management - Republic of Rwanda

Whereas the first 4 centers of excellence above are mainly financed through loans from the African Development Bank (AfDB) amounting to US$ 98.2 million and Partner State’s contributions, the center of excellence for vaccines and health supply chain management is financed through a 10 million euros grant from the Federal Government of Germany through the German Development Bank (KfW). Partner States also approved the establishment of the EAC Regional Centre of Excellence for Nutrition Science in the Republic of Burundi but financing for its operationalization is yet being discussed with the AfDB. Investing strategically in these regional centers of excellence was approved on 23rd February 2018 as one of the nine (9) EAC regional health sector investment priorities for the period 2018 – 2028 by the 19th Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State.