ITM Alumni webinar - Rethinking malaria control through integrated and targeted strategies in SSA: Kombate Gountante
Online
Background
World Malaria Day is an occasion to share insights on malaria-related research, highlighting the need for continued investment and sustained political commitment for malaria prevention, treatment, and control.
World Malaria Day offers an opportunity to reflect on why malaria remains a major global health challenge despite decades of investment and intervention scale-up.
In this webinar, ITM PhD alumnus Kombate Gountante will present evidence from recent research examining why current strategies are not always sufficient and how malaria control efforts can be made more effective. Drawing on findings from a meta-analysis of integrated vector management approaches, the session will highlight how combining multiple interventions can significantly reduce malaria risk compared to single strategies. Using country-level evidence from Togo, the presentation will further explore the importance of identifying malaria hotspots to guide targeted investments, as well as the role of social, environmental, and health system factors in shaping malaria risk and care-seeking behaviour.
The webinar will emphasise key policy messages: the need to move beyond one-size-fits-all approaches, prioritize high-risk populations and areas, strengthen community health systems, and address underlying inequalities. Finally, it will discuss the future of malaria control through layered interventions, including the integration of new tools, such as malaria vaccines, with existing strategies.
The Q&A session will be moderated by Soledad Colombe, Infectious Disease Epidemiologist at the Department of Public Health at ITM.
Speaker
Kombate Gountante is an epidemiologist and public health specialist. He holds a PhD in infectious disease epidemiology from Utrecht University, conducted in collaboration with the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp. He is currently a Public Health Consultant and Researcher at Global TropiHealth and Community Action Group in Burkina Faso. His research focuses on malaria control in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular interest in integrated vector management approaches, the analysis of health system data, and inequalities in access to interventions. He has worked in several West African countries, including Burkina Faso, Togo, Mali, and Niger, in collaboration with national malaria control programs and international partners such as FHI 360, Jhpiego, RTI International, and John Snow Inc.
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