TRRU Workshop: North-South
Detailed Activity Description
Meningococcal disease kills over 135,000 people every year, about half of whom live in Africa’s sub-Saharan Meningitis belt that stretches from Senegal in the west to Somalia in the east. A new meningococcal group A conjugate vaccine (MenAfriVac), the first vaccine to be developed, manufactured and licensed in the global south for use in developing countries, is scheduled for introduction in Burkina Faso in the last quarter of 2009.
Our research team intends to gather and analyse in-depth contextually nuanced local and regional understandings and practices related to particular occurrences and events. We are uniquely positioned to map these to specific biologic and medical events associated with the vaccine introduction as well as to examine the regulatory landscape for vaccine decision-making across sub-Saharan Africa. The workshop will serve mainly to prepare the protocol for this project.
Our team in Canada has extensive experience in Africa and our researchers have disciplinary expertise in medical anthropology (Janice Graham, Gilles Bibeau, Robin Oakley), health economics (Lilani Kumaranayake), health law focusing on the policy and legal intersections of traditional and high-tech health intervention practices (Chide Oguamanam), community health surveillance, management and evaluation (Valéry Ridde, Beth Halpern), medical geography (Trevor Dummer), immunology, vaccinology, public health and epidemiology (Ali Sie, Bocar Kouyate, Philippe de Wals, Bruce Tapeiro, Philippe Ovetchekine, Joanne Langley, Noni MacDonald, Scott Halpern). Several of these researchers will take part in an initial workshop to be held in Ouagadouga, Burkina Faso on February 25, 2009 with key members of the research team in Burkina Faso, led by Dr. Ali Sié.
Funded by: 
