At a social gathering in Nairobi this week the subject of Malaria prophylaxis was raised and I said nothing. And it bothers me. A European, who does not take anything to prevent malaria in Nairobi, asked some Kenyans about getting malaria tablets for a trip to Mozambique. They discussed that tablets could be obtained and even commented on how sick one gets from Malarone™ (GlaxoSmithKline atovaquone/proguanil HCl). The first line in medscape review is – In event of vomiting within 1 hour of dose, repeat dose!
And I said nothing. Why? I did not go to the gathering to discuss malaria. I am networking looking for engineering work in Nairobi. Was it cowardice – fear of discussing a controversial topic that may alienate potential clients? Or was I unprepared? I resolved to prepare a 30 second ‘elevator pitch’ on the topic. Afterall, it was the consideration of prophylaxis that started me on my journey studying malaria.
Or did I feel like an imposter? Wikipedia defines Impostor syndrome as a psychological experience in which a person suffers from feelings of intellectual and/or professional fraudulence. Being Irish what would I know about malaria?
But I have become the expert in this field in the world. I love the approach of Daniel Priestly, to become a KPI (Key Person of Influence) in your field. While Daniel’s focus is on developing money making business, being the world’s leading expert on malnutrition as the major cause of malaria (and mosquitos and plasmodia not being a cause) is the opposite of a lucrative business opportunity. Selling drugs and insecticides to combat malaria, according to the conventional paradigm, is big business for Western, Indian and Chinese companies. Many researchers and medics are employed in malaria treatment and research.
As a mzungu (Swahili for white man) with a PhD and extensive medical industry experience I have credibility to question the narrative. The malaria transmission story was developed by other mzungu (Laveran, Ross, Grassi and others) against the instincts of many affected people. I am the first to translate Grassi’s work from Italian. I have written the most comprehensive book on the topic. I write a weekly blog on malaria research looking for clues for the malnutrition cause and obvious flaws in the conventional approach (this week GAVI are celebrating getting Ugandan minister to agree to vaccine roll-out).
I will not be dumbstruck on this topic again. I resolve to promote my understanding of malaria and the flaws of the conventional approach more strongly. At a later meeting this week I expounded my thoughts to a pharma industry person who asked me about my malaria research. I will make presentations for free to any gathering. I am a distinguished toastmaster and TED speaker and I guess I have found my vocation.