Dr Aristide Dionkounda interview (VIDEO) (Nov 2022)
CÔTE D'IVOIRE
Country Overview
Population:
Capital:
Official language:
Epidemic risk:
27 million*
Yamoussoukro (political); Abidjan (economic)
French
Situated in one of West Africa’s hot zones at risk of emerging and re-emerging pandemic diseases, health indicators are some of the worst in the world. There have been outbreaks of cholera, yellow fever, meningitis, lassa fever, dengue fever, anthrax and bird flu in recent years.
Côte d’Ivoire’s health indicators are below sub-Saharan African averages. Also known as Ivory Coast, the country shares a border with Mali, plus Guinea, Liberia, Burkina Faso and Ghana. Damaging outbreaks of dengue fever have recently hit people living in the economic capital and largest city, Abidjan.
* National annual projection, Jul 2021
Meet our Country Coordinator
Dr. Aristide Dionkounda is an Ivorian national and medical doctor. He has a wealth of experience in delivering health security programmes and extensive network of strategic relationships that bolster our work to tackle deadly diseases in Côte d’Ivoire.
Before joining TDDA in June 2019, Aristide served as HIV Advisor to the Johns Hopkins University Centre of Communication Programs. There, he led the development and implementation of all activities of the HIV component of the USAID Breakthrough ACTION Project. In this role, he provided technical, programmatic and administrative assistance to programmes and helped develop strategic partnerships.
He also coordinated the health component of a regional project financed by the Global Fund, establishing a continuum of care for mobile populations infected by HIV in the health facilities along the Abidjan-Lagos corridor in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria.
In the field of health security, Aristide was the Country Coordinator for the USAID Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT Project, coordinating and overseeing all project implementation in Côte d’Ivoire. He was responsible for field operations and reference laboratory activities within the framework of the Global Health Security Agenda.
Contact Us
Dr. Aristide Dionkounda, MD, DU, QEC