Fig. 4

Developing a data collection and management system in West Africa. Development of a regional data collection and management system (DCMS) was based on support from Ministries of Health in the participating countries, WHO, USAID, the President’s Malaria Initiative, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control. Institutional support was provided by the University of Bamako, the University Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar and the Medical Research Council in Gambia. Computing and epidemiologic expertise were provided by the participating institutions. As a result of the ICEMR workshops, investigators and their DCMS colleagues developed greater expertise in study design, data management and validation, management of electronic files and the development of applications to search the ICEMR database. ICEMR: International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research; IRB: Institutional Review Board; WHO: World Health Organization