It’s day four of our week marking Black Leaders Awareness Day, and today we are meeting Emma Orefuwa, the co-founder of the Pan-African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA). We are revisiting an interview from 2022which marked Emma being awarded an honorary degree by LSTM.
Black Leaders Awareness Day recognises the impact of the world’s most celebrated Black leaders, and this week LSTM is highlighting some of the truly remarkable people we have worked with. Some of those heroes are staff, some are graduates, and others are valued partners. All have made enormous contributions to global health. Also read about Dr Anarfi Asamoah-Baah, Dr Ebere Okewere and Professor Henry Mwandumba.
An umbilical cord to Africa
When her master’s supervisor suggested that she go to Nigeria, her father’s homeland, to conduct research on lymphatic filariasis, London-born Emma Orefuwa was sceptical. However, that supervisor understood the power of connecting with your ancestral country; an understanding that Emma has come to share. It led to her setting up the Pan-African Malaria Control Association (PAMCA), the leading authority on the control and elimination of vector-borne diseases in Africa, and to her being awarded an honorary degree by LSTM.
Family and heritage have played an important role in Emma’s education and success. “I've got a Nigerian father, and Nigerians are very big on education! Also, my maternal grandma was a very strong matriarch, very resilient.” The children’s TV programme, Blue Peter, has also had an impact.
“I remember watching Blue Peter and there was a funding appeal for combatting onchocerciasis (river blindness) in Mali… People were going blind, and I just found it devastating. So, when I was thinking about postgraduate studies, I knew that I wanted to work in science and to work globally, and decided to pursue vector biology to do good within science.”
“A turnkey moment…”
A degree in Biochemical Sciences was followed by a master’s in Biology and Disease of Control Vectors, during which Emma undertook the research in Nigeria that would so radically alter her perspective. She was supervised by Professor Chris Curtis, who became her friend and life-long mentor.
“He inspired me - he was very keen in almost repatriating those of us of African heritage back to our countries of origin to do good… Chris was a very supportive individual and really allowed me to see the potential of myself… PAMCA is a legacy of him - a vision of Africans contributing to addressing their own problems.”
An internship at the European Mosquito Control Association led to Emma helping to coordinate their conference in Turin in 2009. It was there that she gravitated towards African entomologist, Professor Charles Mbogo, (“we were the only two black people amongst 200, so I was intrigued”), who was to become her co-founder of PAMCA.
“Meeting Charles was amazing because he was the first African entomologist that I’d come across. Up until then I'd learned about vector-borne diseases from older white men, and it was just amazing to see that we do have African experts.”
The two bonded over their shared concerns, but also optimism, for the future of science and control of vector-borne diseases in Africa.
“It was clear that African expertise wasn’t being showcased. There was a power imbalance in terms of Africans having the voice to discuss the innovations and solutions they thought were necessary for combating vector-borne diseases in their continent… Why don't we have a platform for Africans interested in combating the problem? And Charles had been thinking about the need to encourage more Africans to be involved in research. That's basically how the Pan-African Mosquito Control Association came about.”
Today, PAMCA is a non-profit membership organisation headquartered in Kenya. It is a collective of vector biologists, public health professionals, policymakers, NGOs, industry and civil society members who have an interest in combatting vector-borne diseases on the continent. As well as chapters in 19 countries, PAMCA also has four Regional Centres of Excellence (RCE) - hubs of expertise which allow countries to utilise infrastructure, knowledge and resources to tackle disease through capacity building and knowledge transfer. Current programmes include evidence generation to inform National Malaria Control Programme strategies in Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Tanzania, and training staff to identify a new malaria vector, carry out surveillance and collect data at the invitation of the Djibouti government. Africa CDC and WHO are also on board. PAMCA is growing – both in numbers and influence – and Emma is obviously proud of the organisation and her contribution to its success.
“In 2018 there was a lady who took a bus for three days from Tanzania to Zimbabwe just to attend our conference. Just listening to her story made me proud that we have created a platform that people feel they need to be at, that they value, and that they feel seen. Our hope is to get as many African countries as possible signing up to our shared vision in order to promote South-South collaboration, and really harmonise efforts across the continent.”
PAMCA and LSTM
LSTM has been part of PAMCA’s work for several years, sharing its commitment to generating high-quality evidence and capacity strengthening. For example, Professor Charles Wondji currently heads PAMCA’s Central Africa RCE, Dr Tony Nolan has helped run their innovative Gene Drive programme since 2017, and the Department of Vector Biology in a key partner. Emma hopes that the relationship can develop further.
“There have been lots of programmes with LSTM, and I think the vision is to strengthen our relationship. We'd like to be able to scale these programmes across the continent, to tap into LSTM’s expertise. It's a good example of a North-South collaboration that is a win-win - mutually beneficial, respectful and has lasting impact.”
Women in Vector Control
This new programme is based on PAMCA members’ own experiences of sexism, discrimination and sexual harassment – both professionally and in the home. Emma explains:
“We kept talking about women not being visible, being overlooked for positions, and living in a very patriarchal space, and this translates to society as a whole. There's much talk about eliminating vector-borne diseases, but it's not going to work if half the population aren’t involved. And how do we encourage women to pursue the sciences?“
A two-day workshop involving women from 25 countries generated a list of problems but also recommendations which Emma hopes will translate into action and policy change.
“We know the issues, now it’s about solutions. We're hoping to mobilise more women, but also men who are champions. We've launched a mentorship programme and started training. One idea is getting donors involved in an accountability mechanism – ‘if you're found to have been involved in X, Y and Z you won't get funds.’”
This programme is still in its infancy but is already being described by those involved as “transformational”, providing a community for sharing, networking and giving women opportunities to advance their careers in vector control.
A word of advice
What advice does Emma have for those embarking on their own careers?
“Think about everybody who has a stake. Why are you doing this, what are you doing, who does it serve? Are those people involved in the co-development of any activities? We often specialise in one area and become slightly myopic in our vision and what we think will make an impact. Everybody has a skill, everyone has a worth, and it really does take a village, so think outside the box.”
This need for meaningful connectivity ties back to that early advice from her master’s supervisor.
“When I'm working on African initiatives there's a different level of drive. It's not just a job. It's serving your own people, your community, and that's where the passion comes from. There's been many difficult junctures with PAMCA, but what's kept me going is that connectivity, almost an umbilical cord to the continent. And that is something that really should be capitalised on more by those of us working in the UK.”