Spreading the reach of neurology across the continent.
By Augustina Charway-Felli and Amadou Gallo Diop
Photos from the biannual francophone contest November 2022, in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, involving 10 new African professors of neurology and three psychiatrists
Nov. 12, 2022, marked the end of the biennial Francophone contest of the headquarters of the African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education (Conseil Africain et Malgache pour l’Enseignement Superieur [CAMES]). Congratulations to the 10 new African professors of neurology (and three psychiatrists) who were successful at the contest that concluded in Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire.
The first ranked candidate, Prof. Medinatou Atoukè Agbetou, from Benin, coincidentally benefited from a sponsored one-year epileptology training fellowship in Dakar, Senegal, at the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) accredited neurology department of Universitaire Cheikh Anta Diop (Cheikh Anta Diop University-UCAD) three years prior.
Photos from the biannual francophone contest November 2022, in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, involving 10 new African professors of neurology and three psychiatrists
Other individuals and countries represented were: Maouli Fall and Ndiaga Matar Gaye from Senegal; Kokou Mensah Guinhouya (Togo); Seybou Hassane (Mali); Lompo Labodi and Anselme Dabilgou (Burkina Faso); Ghislain Armel Mpandzou and Prince Eliot Gallieni Sounga Bandzouzi (Congo); and Emmanuel Yangatimbi (Central African Republic).
CAMES is the coordinating body for higher education and research systems in francophone Africa. It serves also as the accreditation body for various degrees (Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorates, etc.) in its member countries. The UCAD Neurology Department has a longstanding tradition of training in neurology for trainees across French-speaking Africa and several of the above-mentioned successful candidates have their roots in this department.
Though a seemingly small number of new professors, these individuals now serve to continue sharing knowledge and training new cadres in neurology and build on the foundation set by the likes of Michel Dumas, Amadou Gallo Diop, Riadh Gouider, and Therese Sonan, to name a few. Examples of similar growth of neurological departments and local training of neurologists are plentiful across other parts of the continent in luso- and anglophone countries. The African Academy of Neurology (AFAN) is proud of all these efforts and will continue to support individual, country, and regional efforts to build up the neurological workforce with internal resources and reduce the brain drain that is threatening the African Continent. •
Augustina Charway-Felli is president of the African Academy of Neurology. Amadou Gallo Diop is head of the department of neurology at Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal, and is past trustee of the WFN.
