8 July 2025 Articles

From theory to practice with Jean-Paul Fantognon and Ter Tiero Elias Dah

We welcomed two guest lecturers to our French-language Challenges in International Health course.

In May and June 2025, guest lecturers Kokou Agbéko Jean-Paul Fantognon (Togo) and Ter Tiero Elias Dah (Burkina Faso) joined us on campus for the Défis en Santé Internationale course (Challenges in International Health).

Jean-Paul coaching during a groupwork session

During the course component "Systèmes de santé et politiques de santé pour une Couverture Sanitaire Universelle" (Health systems and policies for Universal Health Coverage), students learned the different approaches and aspects of local health systems and health policies through two different country cases on Belgium and Togo. MPH alumnus Jean-Paul Fantognon, who is now the director of a health district working for the Ministry of Health in Togo, developed the case study on a local health system in Togo which made the concepts more tangible for the students. The students themselves also put the theory into practice during guided group works.

"Returning to the Institute of Tropical Medicine as a teacher and resource person feels incredibly rewarding. It’s a chance for me to give back, sharing what I’ve learned during the Master's programme and through my work in the field as the head of a district health management team, while also continuing to learn from the experiences of others. I’m truly grateful for this opportunity."

Elias during a lecture in the course

Elias Dah is a researcher from ITM’s partner institution Centre Muraz in Burkina Faso, who works on the implementation of oral HIV PrEP (pre-exposure-prophylaxis, a preventive treatment) among female sex workers in Burkina. He contributed to the course component "Santé en situation de vulnérabilité" (Health in vulnerable situations) where the students are introduced to a range of vulnerabilities and their impact on health and well-being. Together with Senior Researcher Thijs Reyniers from ITM’s Unit of Sexual Health including HIV, they explained the history of AIDS and HIV, prevention strategies and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, etc. The students could analyse real-life situations through a case study on Burkina Faso.

These initiatives were partially made possible by the Alliance for Education in Tropical Medicine and International Public Health, allowing valuable contributions of ITM alumni and staff from partner institutions in ITM courses. The Alliance is a component of the institutional agreement between ITM and Directorate-General for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid (DGD), It serves as a framework to develop educational partnerships, collaboration and exchange with international partner institutions in higher education in the agreement’s partner countries and beyond.

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