Casimir Ajavon

Togolese physician and public health pioneer who eradicated sleeping sickness in West Africa

Dr. Casimir Ajavon (1902–1983) was a Togolese medical doctor whose groundbreaking work in epidemiology and community healthcare transformed the fight against African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) in French West Africa. At a time when colonial authorities prioritized urban centers, Ajavon pioneered mobile clinics to reach remote villages, combining traditional knowledge with modern medicine.

His "village-by-village" eradication strategy reduced infection rates by 95% in Togo by 1955. He also trained local health workers to sustain prevention efforts, a model later adopted by WHO. Defying racial barriers in colonial medical hierarchies, Ajavon became the first African director of the Lomé Institute of Tropical Medicine in 1947.

Beyond medicine, he advocated for rural education programs, believing literacy was key to healthcare compliance. His interdisciplinary approach inspired post-colonial public health policies across Francophone Africa.