She was welcomed by CRID’s heads of departments and leading researchers. They focused on discussing the President’s Malaria Initiative plan to support the fight against malaria in Cameroon.
Monday, October 14th 2024. CRID welcomed Dr Sarah Zohdy, U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) Entomology Team Lead and Anopheles stephensi Response Lead. She was accompanied by Dr Judith Hedje from the Cameroon branch of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The visit was hosted by Dr Magellan Tchouakui, researcher at CRID, alongside Mrs Murielle Wondji, laboratory manager, and other key researchers. During their stay, the ladies had the opportunity to access different projects implemented at CRID under CDC, and particularly those concerning Anopheles stephensi. After this work session, they toured the institution’s laboratories and insectaries. They were very pleased to observe that CRID’s infrastructure and equipment meet international standards. The visit ended with a capacity assessment in the context of the System to End the Malaria Burden through Meaningful Engagement (SEMBE) project implemented by CRID, in consortium with other organizations.
In the laboratory
This visit comes few weeks after CRID received an award during CDC’s 20th anniversary, in recognition of its excellence in innovative malaria-related research. Prior to this, CRID had organised a workshop on the “Surveillance of Anopheles stephensi at the health level district in Cameroon” under the CDC Project. During this training session, local health personnel from various regions of Cameroon gained general knowledge of epidemiology and malaria vectors, with particular attention to Anopheles stephensi ecology. They also had a practical phase involving field collection of Anopheles larvae in the preferred breeding sites of this species in Yaoundé, and an introduction to the molecular techniques for its identification. In addition, Dr Tchouakui and Mrs Wondji had benefited from a 6-month stay in CDC Atlanta in 2023. This trip was part of the collaborative project between CDC and CRID, entitled «Novel molecular diagnostic tools to detect emerging resistance to new generation public health insecticides».
All these put together show the close collaboration between both institutions, and their commitment to supporting malaria control in Cameroon.
