Preventing Diseases, Managing Epidemics : Decision-makers, Modelers Unite For Efficiency

Public health officials, data scientists and other stakeholders from some 14 African countries and beyond have concluded a two-day (15-16 May, 2025) workshop on Strengthening resilience in Public Health, uniting modelers, decision makers and other stakeholders for an effective response. The workshop that took place in Limbe, South West Region of Cameroon, was organised by the Centre Pasteur du Cameroun, and the Ministry of Public Health, hosted by the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS). According to the organisers, the main objective of the workshop was to facilitate dialogue between modelers and decision-makers in order to improve the use of data in public health decision-making. To the Scientific Director of Centre Pasteur du Cameroun, Dr. Sara Eyangoh, models play a crucial role in guiding public health officials to better manage epidemics, prevent diseases and make predictions on diseases thereby improving health conditions. Modelers, it was observed, are essential in providing valuable data on disease transmission dynamics, simulating impact of interventions and evaluating prevention strategies as well as guiding public health policies.  
The Limbe get-together powered by African Modelling and Analytics Academy for Women (AMAX), created a space for constructive dialogue and served as a nexus to foster mutual understanding as participants identified priority topics that require modelling and established a collaborative framework for more effective cooperation and decision-making. In a context of limited resources, modelers (epidemiological modelling experts, statisticians and data scientists can better advise policy-makers on evolution of pandemics, impact of intervention, effectiveness of response strategies for proper decision making. The COVID-19 pandemic was cited as an example where the crucial role of modeling in health crisis management was demonstrat...