Innovating African solutions to global health challenges with Yap Boum

Welcome to the final episode of our first season. In this episode, Ulrick converses with Dr. Yap Boum about the importance of identifying and supporting African solutions and innovations to global health challenges. They discuss lessons on African innovation during covid-19, the importance of African-led research, and a new innovation called The Village.

Professor Yap Boum II is the Executive Director of the Institute Pasteur of Bangui in Central Africa Republic and the former Regional Representative for Epicentre in Africa, the research arm of Medécins sans Frontieres (MSF). He has implemented several studies on tuberculosis, malaria, Neglected Tropical Diseases, Ebola, COVID-19 in Uganda, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cameroon among others. Boum teaches Public Health and Microbiology at Mbarara University of Sciences and Technology (Uganda) where he has a professorship and at the Universities of Virginia (UVa) and the University ofYaoundé I (Cameroon). He has held an array of leadership and advisory positions on national and international scales. Presently, Boum serves on the International Editorial Board of The Lancet Global Health. Boum is also co-founder of Kmerpad, a nonprofit that developed washable sanitary pads to empower women, allow them to fully participate in their education, and to limit the waste generated by the use of non-reusable sanitary pads. He has also a co-founder of iDocta, a digital platform that takes healthcare services to the community. He recently started Homegrown Solutions for Africa (HS4Africa) which aims to promote the creation of a critical mass of young Africans to find homegrown and innovative solutions for addressing the social and public health challenges Africa's faces. The Village digital platform is the new development of HS4Africa that will brake the barriers and connect scientists to transform Global Health As an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Fellow, Boum is inspired by the vision of a healthy and wealthy Africa.

Relevant readings:

1. Who is telling the story? A systematic review of authorship for infectious disease research conducted in Africa, 1980–2016
2. Is Africa part of the partnership?
3. Advancing equitable global health research partnerships in Africa

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Artwork: Chidiebere Ibe

Audio editing and social media marketing: Yvan Zolo

Theme music: Antidote by Ketsa