Malaria, Poverty and Politics

In this episode I clarify why we organized the PAMCA meeting in Kenya and why you should attend.

Malaria elimination is still a distant dream in Africa. This episode discusses how we can get away from the tyranny of Defeat, Distraction and Dependency.

This is part 2 of a two-part series dedicated exclusively to The Pan-African Mosquito Control Association – PAMCA.
We discuss the issues around the legality of the current board, and the rumors of financial mismanagement inside PAMCA.

The Pan-African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA) has been going through a leadership and management crisis for 2 years now.
In this first part of a two-part series, I have invited four guests, who have worked for PAMCA for several years, to discuss how PAMCA was organized and what brought it to the current stalemate.

There are many reasons to lose hope. But you can choose to remain hopeful. Here are my reasons.

Dr Fitsum Tadesse is a Lead Scientist at the Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI) in Ethiopia, a Wellcome Trust Fellow at LSHTM and an Alan J. Magill Fellow at ASTMH
His work mainly focuses on the transmission of malaria parasites from humans to mosquitoes. His group recently demonstrated the contribution of the invasive mosquito, Anopheles stephensi to malaria transmission, providing solid evidence for the risks related to the invasion of this vector in Africa.

Dr Anne Gasasira is a Ugandan trained medical doctor and epidemiologist.
She started her career in malaria and HIV research in the early 2000s. She worked on a research collaboration between Makerere University- University of California San Francisco on antimalarial drug efficacy and HIV–Malaria interaction studies.
Since 2015, has been working with the African Leaders Malaria Alliance to support African Ministries of Health to implement data-driven management tools aimed at catalyzing progress towards national health goals through strengthening programme oversight, accountability, action and advocacy.

Carl Manlan is an Economist working at the intersection of public, private and civil society sectors. He is a development practitioner with experience in health financing, private foundations, inclusive impact and sustainability.

Sherwin Charles is a co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Goodbye Malaria, an African initiative to eliminate malaria in Southern Africa.
In this episode we discuss his journey into the fight against malaria, the role of the private sector and the financing of malaria elimination; the current reliance on commodities and the role of community ownership in the fight against malaria. We end our conversation discussing Goodbye Malaria and the great work this organization is doing in Mozambique, South Africa and eSwatini.

Dr Michael Adenkule Charles is the CEO of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria. He is at the forefront of convening and collaborating with over 500 partners, in the combined mission towards the elimination of malaria.
In this episode, I chat with Dr Charles about the issues of localization and agenda setting for malaria elimination in Africa; the overreliance on commodities to control malaria, and the impact of climate change on health.