The annual meeting of the TESA - Trials of Excellence in Southern Africa project took place on 28 and 29 November.

The objective was to present and review the results of the research projects and activities in terms of developing the institutional capacities of TESA network research centres as well as presenting the independent, external evaluation report which TESA was submitted to.

This involved the presentation of research outputs developed by research centres in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Furthermore, this also approached questions interrelated with the drafting of joint projects and clinical trials in accordance with the same methodology across TESA network centres. This correspondingly highlighted the importance of quality and the research impact in keeping with the rules of financing applied by the EDCTP.

In addition to these programmed activities, there was a presentation by Dr. Jocelyne Vasconcelos in her capacity as the new leader of CISA and as the new TESA coordinator. Furthermore, a vote was held for the definition of which country should host the next TESA annual meeting, with Angola receiving the majority of the votes.

In parallel with this encounter, CISA was invited by the TESA coordinator – Dr. Eusébio Macete, to participate in a meeting with Dr. Kalumbi Shangula, the Minister of Health and Social Services of Namibia, Dr. Jacob Sheehama the Research Director of the University of Namibia and Dra. Michelle Nderu, the EDCTP representative. 

In this meeting, the Minister of Health and Social Services congratulated the TESA project and emphasised the need to maintain and deepen partnership relationships. This also conveyed the interest in collaborating with Angola over the development of joint research projects between CISA and the University of Namibia for the evaluation of the effectiveness and impact of interventions designed to control and eliminate malaria on the border between Angola and Namibia.