CRID : The Centre Advancing Health Care in Africa via Quality research gets inaugurated

Dr. Etoundi Mballa Georges, personal representative of the Minister of Public Health inaugurated the centre on 8th May, 2024 in Yaounde.

Over 150 guests comprising health experts, researchers, interns from the Universities of Yaoundé 1, Buea and Bamenda, traditional rulers, and other guests attended the event which held at the head office of the institution in Odza, Yaoundé, Cameroon.

“ The fight against infectious diseases is a key priority for the Ministry of Public Health. For us to have innovative and adapted strategies to fight these diseases, we need proper research. This is why we must salute this initiative which permits us to have a state-of-the-art  laboratory which will permit us to have a solution to all our problems,” Dr. Etoundi Mballa Georges said.

Bringing down the Malaria Burden 

According to the Ministry of Public Health, close to 3million Malaria cases were reported in Cameroon in 2023, representing 28% of consultations. The country also reported over 1.2 Malaria-related admissions and 1,756 deaths from Malaria.

Malaria control is one of the areas where CRID is making  strides in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health, the National Malaria Control Programme and other national and international health partners, among them, Impact Santé Afrique.

“We are working with the Ministry of Public Health and other stakeholders to bring the malaria burden down. We are doing it at two levels; by helping Cameroon implement the best control strategies against malaria vectors. We find out mosquito genetic behavior, and how they manage to avoid being killed by bed nets and we tell the Ministry of Health the best bed nets that will contain these mosquitoes, and reduce the malaria burden,” Prof. Charles Wondji, Executive Director of CRID said. 

CRID is also crafting innovative malaria control methods, and strengthening local capacities for surveillance and elimination of the disease.

“We are working on innovative methods to accelerate control. One  of such methods  is  special repellants. We just got a funding to research on the use of the repellants  that will drive mosquitoes from houses and prevent them from biting humans. This will drastically reduce malaria transmission in the coming years,” the Executive Director said.

Apart from malaria control, CRID has been  carrying out research on sleeping sickness, yellow fever and emerging vector-borne diseases such as zika and dengue since its creation 6 years ago. 

Following the inauguration of CRID’s headquarters, Hon Marie Ngoko Mambe Tchouante, member of the Parliamentary Caucus for health financing in Cameroon expressed the desire to see the structure expand its research activities to vaccine control. 

“We are hoping the Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID) will be supported and accompanied so that they can control the quality of vaccines that enter our country,” Hon Marie Ngoko Mambe Tchouante said. 

The Centre for Infectious Diseases 

CRID was created in 2018 with a vision to improve the living conditions of populations through quality research. It has also been strengthening the capacities and skills of researchers in tropical infectious diseases.

The structure has a manpower of 130 people working in 3 main units: Administration and Finance, Medical Entomology, Parasitology and Microbiology. 

CRID is equipped with a state-of-the-art molecular biology laboratory, insectariums, 3 experimental stations for evaluating the effectiveness of vector control tools in semi-natural conditions, as well as a research team consisting of principal investigators, post-doctoral researchers, laboratory technicians, PHD students and Masters students.

In its drive to advance health care in Africa, CRID has expanded its research activities beyond Cameroon’s borders. In 6 years of existence, the centre has carried out research in 10 other African countries;  Nigeria, Uganda, Mozambique, Malawi, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Benin, and Ghana. The institution’s major research activities include the evaluation of insecticide resistance, the evaluation of the genetic bases of resistance, the effectiveness of vector control tools, and the development of molecular markers to detect and track resistance

Kathy Neba Sina