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Former Managing Director, Global Health Programs Dr. Baz Semo

Dr. Baz Semo is a medical doctor and public health specialist with 30 years of experience in infectious diseases and health systems strengthening. She served as the managing director of global health programs at Chemonics. Prior to Chemonics, Baz worked for ministries of health in several African countries, U.S. academic institutions, U.S. nonprofits, and the World Health Organization.

by Dr. Baz Semo


Three Successful Approaches for Reducing the Malaria Burden in Mozambique

Globally, only a small handful of countries are responsible for 95 percent of all malaria cases and deaths. In 2019, five countries made up more than half of the 229 million global case burden, while six countries accounted for 51 percent of the 409,000 malaria deaths. That same year, Mozambique was on both lists and accounted for…

The Malaria Vaccine Is Here, Finally. What Next?

Globally, malaria is endemic in more than 100 countries, and responsible for over 200 million cases and 400,000 deaths annually. The disease disproportionately impacts children, with 67% of deaths caused by malaria occurring among children under the age of five. Simply put, a child dies from malaria every two minutes. Even though proven treatment and prevention interventions, such as case…

Mitigating Hesitancy Key to COVID-19 Vaccine Readiness

Vaccines are one of the most cost-effective public health interventions, saving millions of lives each year. They are our best chance of eradicating COVID-19, which has had one of this century’s most devastating impacts on humankind, with high death tolls and major disruptions to economies and everyday life. Vaccines historically take years to develop, requiring…

3 Questions with Baz Semo: Ensuring Safe and Continuous HIV Service Delivery in Nigeria

In Nigeria, where 1.8 million people live with HIV and 100,000 were newly infected in 2019, the pandemic has disrupted the government of Nigeria’s efforts to lead a large-scale, evidence-driven national response to control the HIV epidemic by limiting access to critical testing and treatment services. To address this, healthcare administrators and frontline workers are…

The Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Sub-Saharan Africa

This journal article in Psychology Research and Behavior Management, co-written by Dr. Baz Semo and Dr. Souci Mogga Frissa, provides recommendations for mitigating the increase of mental health problems in Sub-Saharan Africa due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sustained high HIV case-finding through index testing and partner notification services: experiences from three provinces in Zimbabwe

This peer-reviewed article in the Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS) describes the implementation of index testing and partner notification services (PNS) under the Zimbabwe HIV Care and Treatment (ZHCT) project and the resulting uptake, HIV positivity rate, and links to HIV treatment.

Clinical outcomes of a cohort of migrants and citizens living with human immunodeficiency virus in Botswana: implications for Joint United Nation Program on HIV and AIDS 90-90-90 targets

This article in Medicine, a peer-reviewed medical journal, shares clinical outcomes of a cohort of migrants and citizens living with human immunodeficiency virus in Botswana and looks at implications on global HIV/AIDS targets.

Maximizing the benefit of health workforce secondment in Botswana: an approach for strengthening health systems in resource-limited settings

This peer-reviewed article in Risk Management and Healthcare Policy presents outcomes, best practices, and lessons learned from a President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief-funded secondment program in Botswana.

Improving the quality of health information: a qualitative assessment of data management and reporting systems in Botswana

The article published in Health Research Policy and Systems shares findings from an assessment, which was conducted to identify strengths and weaknesses of the health data management and reporting systems that capture and transfer routine monitoring and evaluation (M&E) data in Botswana.