Dr. David Walton, Coordinator, U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) and team honored CRID with a visit of collaboration. His visit aimed to carry a productive discussion on CRID’s efforts as a leading centre for research particularly in the fight against malaria.
On March 8th, 2024, at 10 am, Dr. David Walton arrived at CRID in Yaoundé’s “Nkoulou – carrière” district, where he received a warm welcome from Prof. Charles Wondji, the Executive Director. The purpose of this visit was to have a productive discussion on CRID’s role as a leading research centre for infectious diseases, specifically in the fight against malaria. The visit provided an opportunity to exchange valuable insights and expertise on malaria research and control strategies. Dr. Walton and Prof. Wondji discussed CRID’s innovative initiatives aimed at advancing understanding of malaria and developing effective techniques to combat infectious diseases.
This meeting between the United States Global Malaria Coordinator and CRID’s Executive Director highlights the collaborative nature of the global fight against malaria. It further demonstrates CRID’s commitment to making a meaningful contribution to malaria control efforts through cutting-edge research, collaborative partnerships, and knowledge sharing. Dr. Walton’s visit to CRID also brought valuable suggestions to the discussion on gender balance, further strengthening CRID’s commitment to continue working tirelessly towards reducing the burden of malaria and improving the health and well-being of affected communities.
The U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), which serves as the U.S. Government’s focal point for the global fight against malaria, has played a crucial role in saving millions of lives and contributing to improvements in education, productivity, and economic development. Originally conceived as a five-year initiative with the ambitious goal of reducing malaria deaths by 50% in 15 African countries, PMI has since expanded to 24 partner countries in sub-Saharan Africa and three programs in the Greater Mekong Subregion in Southeast Asia, covering approximately 90% of the global malaria burden. PMI delivers cost-effective, life-saving malaria interventions and provides technical and operational assistance to empower partner countries in their efforts to eliminate malaria.
There’s a solid partnership between CRID and PMI, under the VectorLink and actually Evolve project: We provide entomological experts for many fields activities for PMI in Cameroon, we collaborate in the bed-nets durability tests under PEDIR, and CRID is the sub-contractor centre for all molecular analysis of PMI samples from Cameroon, Guinea and Sierra Leonne.