Sri Lanka
A malaria epidemic arose during Sri Lanka’s civil war during the 1980s and 1990s, affecting more than 600,000 people. The rise and fall of malaria in Sri Lanka was closely linked to the country’s ecology and geopolitics. Political commitment, sustained and adequate finance, and good centralized management of stakeholders and their activities led to malaria elimination in Sri Lanka. Despite the ongoing conflict, governmental leaders engaged and cooperated with various stakeholders. Under the leadership of the Malaria-Control Program and the Anti-Malaria Campaign (AMC), various stakeholders—including international and national NGOs, donor agencies as well as the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE)—coordinated their efforts to eliminate malaria. In 2016, the World Bank certified Sri Lanka as a malaria-free country.
RESEARCHERS
Kara Grace Hounsell
Kara Grace Hounsell is a student in the MD program at the University of Toronto. She has a strong interest in health equity and the social determinants of health. As part of Team Sri Lanka, Kara worked with a group of students and researchers to uncover the story behind the country's successful elimination of malaria. The project provided an opportunity to explore the challenges of identifying, treating, and preventing malaria within a conflict setting.
Talha Sadiq
alha Sadiq is a recent graduate from the Master of Public Policy program at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. He holds an Honours BA in International Development and Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto. He worked on the REACH project in 2017-2018 focusing on malaria elimination in Sri Lanka. He is currently working in Ottawa as a Policy Analyst through the PARDP program at Natural Resources Canada.
Abrar Ahmed
Abrar Ahmed is currently a fifth year undergraduate student double majoring in neuroscience and health policy, and minoring in physiology. His REACH team studied Sri Lanka's elimination of malaria amid active conflict and natural disaster. Along with his studies, he is the Campus Chair of University of Toronto's Global Brigades, an organization that is dedicate to sustainable development of under resourced communities in Africa and Latin America. He is also a course contributor and course lead with NextGenU.org, the world's first free online university. Abrar is currently conducting research into the usage of neural stem cells as a method for stroke recovery, and working to develop a biofeedback device for patients with amputations.
Mariam Naguib
Mariam Naguib worked on the case srudy in 2017-2018 Eliminating malaria in Sri Lanka. She is Presently navigating the world of medicine as a second year medical student, curious about theintersection of health equity and human rights though the lens of systems thinking whilst asking (too many) questions and sometimes reading autobiographies
