Marie-Louise Kante

Senegalese public health pioneer who eradicated smallpox in West Africa through community-driven vaccination campaigns

Dr. Marie-Louise Kante (1928-2015) was a Senegalese physician and epidemiologist whose innovative vaccination strategies led to the eradication of smallpox in West Africa a decade before the global campaign succeeded. Born in Dakar during French colonial rule, she became Senegal's first female medical doctor in 1952. Her groundbreaking work began in 1958 with the Transborder Smallpox Eradication Project, which united six French-speaking African nations in coordinated health efforts.

Kante's methods included:

• Training local 'health messengers' from affected communities
• Using bicycle-based vaccination teams in rural areas
• Developing culturally sensitive communication strategies

By 1966, her team had vaccinated over 12 million people across Senegal, Mali, and Guinea, reducing smallpox cases by 98%. Her 1970 report Community-Based Immunization Strategies became a global model for WHO's later campaigns. Kante's work is chronicled in the documentary Voices of Vaccination (2010), which won the Pan African Health Film Prize.