Connecting African Malaria Researchers: MIMCom
MIMCom Sites in 2011
PDF presentation of the story of NLM’s communication network of malaria researchers in 14 African countries creation and evaluation including assessment and conclusions several years later.
I first met Mark in 1991, during the early days of the Internet in Africa. Mark was Director of the Computer Center at the University of Zambia in Lusaka. In 1985, he had seen an ad in a London newspaper and moved his wife Jan, daughter Rachel, and newborn Caty from England to Zambia.
In the early 90s, the Internet was still in its infancy in the US, and the new digital world that would be created from social networking, social media, and the cell phone was waiting to be discovered. Even in the rudimentary environment at that time, Mark saw potential beyond the obvious business in hardware and software. As he worked on local access for students at the medical library and other central sites, he was downloading messages from a small low earth orbit satellite that passed over twice a day. His campus network ZamNet was one of the first Internet service providers on the African continent… (click to continue)
Initially targeting one area of opportunity in 1997, NLM played a critical role with NIH in the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) providing enhanced access to the Internet and to medical literature for malaria research sites in Africa where there was little or no access. Eventually comprising 27 sites in 14 countries, MIMCom was sustained by the research funders and partners at each site. MIMCom’s success led to successful initiatives with African medical librarians, journal editors, and medical students and were patterned on Julia’s earlier work at SatelLife and coordinated with
extant core programs at NLM. All focused on specific need and on local sustainability, ownership, and autonomy.
MIMCom facilitated malaria research in: epidemiology; antimalarial drug resistance; pathogenesis and immunology; entomology and vector studies; natural products and drug development; and health systems and social sciences. A survey of researchers at MIMCom sites conducted from August 2002–February 2003 showed MIMCom was making a significant difference in professional performance among collaborations with colleagues, short courses taken, proposals written and funded, papers published, and clinical trials. Connectivity counteracted isolation and improved self-esteem.
And it all started with helping two sites decide what they needed to do and then supporting them in communication with one another. Seven years later, connectivity at the MIMCom sites across the continent was sustainable, and the sites were on their own to choose how they wanted to develop their telecom futures.
Resources
Building the Culture of Research in Africa, One Stroke at a Time: Digital Pens and Med Students Meet in a Small Ugandan Village - Julia’s 2010 Presentation to the NIH Board of Regents
Interviews by Julia
Interview with Dr. David Ofori-Adjei
Prof. Fred Binka discusses the evolution of IT in sub-Saharan Africa from scientists having no connectivity with no access to research, journals, requests for proposals, or one another to the first low earth orbit satellite which enabled basic email to what is now a fully formed IT infrastructure.
The early days of satellite communication enabled extensive research on the use of bed nets in successfully preventing malaria and paved the way to MIMCom, a component of the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM). This international alliance helps researchers in Africa access the internet, medical literature, and communication tools for more effective research.