Dr. Moussa Diarra

Dr. Moussa Diarra is a seasoned general practitioner at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Gabriel Touré in Bamako — Mali's most prominent academic referral hospital and the country's hub for tertiary medical care. With 18 years of clinical practice, Dr. Diarra has developed deep expertise in the management of tropical and infectious diseases that dominate Mali's disease landscape, where malaria alone accounts for a substantial proportion of hospital admissions and outpatient consultations. Mali's health system faces compounding pressures from conflict-related population displacement in the north and centre of the country, which has disrupted healthcare access for millions of people and increased the prevalence of malnutrition, epidemic meningitis, and outbreaks of cholera and measles. Dr. Diarra's primary care practice at CHU Gabriel Touré serves Bamako's rapidly growing urban population, which has also seen a rise in non-communicable diseases including hypertension and type 2 diabetes alongside the persistent tropical disease burden. He provides comprehensive general medicine consultations in the hospital's outpatient department and is involved in the clinical supervision of community health workers (agents de santé communautaire) who extend primary care into Bamako's underserved peri-urban neighbourhoods. Bilingual in French and Bambara — Mali's dominant spoken language — Dr. Diarra bridges the formal medical system and the communities it serves.

Dr. Diarra completed his Doctorat en Médecine at the Faculté de Médecine et d'Odonto-Stomatologie (FMOS) of the Université des Sciences, des Techniques et des Technologies de Bamako (USTTB) — Mali's main medical training institution. He holds a Diplôme en Santé Publique Tropicale obtained through a training programme at the Institut de Médecine Tropicale in Antwerp, Belgium, which deepened his expertise in the epidemiology and management of tropical diseases in West African contexts. He has participated in WHO-supported continuing medical education on malaria case management, epidemic meningitis preparedness, and integrated management of childhood illnesses (IMCI).

Dr. Diarra's clinical expertise is centred on high-volume, efficient primary care delivery in a resource-limited but high-acuity hospital environment. He is highly proficient in malaria rapid diagnostic testing and appropriate artemisinin-based combination therapy prescription, including case management for severe malaria requiring parenteral artesunate before referral for higher-level care. He diagnoses and manages typhoid fever, enteric infections, and the differential diagnosis of febrile illness. He provides integrated management of HIV/AIDS in coordination with Mali's national antiretroviral programme, screens for tuberculosis and initiates DOTS-based treatment, and manages hypertension and diabetes in the growing urban non-communicable disease population. He performs wound care, suturing, and IV access with fluid resuscitation for dehydrated patients.

Dr. Diarra has contributed to malaria surveillance data collection for the Programme National de Lutte contre le Paludisme (PNLP) in Mali and to multi-country epidemiological studies on febrile illness in West African children conducted through the West African Health Organisation. He contributed clinical observations to a study on non-communicable disease burden in urban Bamako published by the Société Malienne de Médecine Interne and has presented at Mali's national health conference on community-level malaria prevention strategies.

Dr. Diarra provides consultations in French and Bambara and is experienced in managing international patients in Bamako including diplomats, expatriates, humanitarian and development workers from the many NGOs and international organisations present in Mali. He provides travel health assessments, tropical disease screening, meningococcal vaccination, and yellow fever vaccination for international travellers. For patients requiring specialist care unavailable in Mali, he facilitates referrals to Senegal, Ivory Coast, or France, and provides comprehensive medical documentation in French.

Dr. Diarra was recognised by the Ordre National des Médecins du Mali for 18 years of dedicated service to primary healthcare in Bamako and for his contributions to community health education. He received a commendation from the WHO Mali Country Office for his participation in malaria clinical case management training and for his role in strengthening primary care delivery in Bamako's peri-urban areas.