BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE- A humanitarian act by one of the richest men in the world will assist in eradicating Malaria in Eswatini.
Through the University of Cape Town (UCT) website, this publication has learnt that the above mentioned university has received a major funding boost from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to launch a three-year capacity-building programme for malaria modelling in sub-Saharan Africa.
Worth noting is that Eswatini is in the sub-Saharan region.
The ‘Malaria Modelling and Analytics: Leaders in Africa’ (MMALA) programme has received a grant of US$3 million (E54.5 million) over three years from the Gates Foundation to develop a critical mass of African malaria modellers to meet the need for tailored quantitative malaria decision support in a sustainable way.
According to the UCT website, the programme is headed by Associate Professor Sheetal Silal, the director of the Modelling and Simulation Hub, Africa (MASHA) based in UCT’s Department of Statistical Sciences. Associate Professor Silal’s research focuses on using mathematics and statistics to model the transmission and control of malaria, COVID-19 and other diseases in South Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and globally.
“MMALA is one of five projects that have received funding from the Gates Foundation to boost malaria modelling capacity in Africa. The funding opportunity forms part of the foundation’s Grand Challenges Global Call-to-Action initiative and seeks to support the World Health Organization’s (WHO) goal of eliminating malaria by 2030,” read the article.
Silal said they were very excited to be producing a cohort of 12 PhD students and three postdoctoral researchers.
“We have sent a call for applications throughout the region, targeting the Elimination 8 (E8) countries of Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as Ghana, Cameroon and Benin.
“Our previous research has shown that a regional approach is necessary to eliminate malaria,” she said. “Each country working in isolation is not cost-effective, but a regional approach will bring mutual benefits and savings. And that is also the strength of this particular project,” said the Associate Professor.
MMALA has already received 85 applications for the PhD positions and the interview process is already under way.
The Programme Manager of the country’s National Malaria Programme, Quinton Dlamini, said they were still not aware of the funding.
“E8 funding is regional, meaning the programme lead has to inform us formally because the funding does not come straight to us.
“We are sure that they will inform us through our protocols in due course,” Dlamini commented briefly.
