Current Position
Minister of Health and Social Development, Mali
Background
Colonel Dr. Assa Badiallo Touré, appointed on July 1, 2023, under Prime Minister Choguel Maïga’s transitional government, holds a distinguished military and medical profile. She completed her baccalauréat in biological sciences at Lycée des Jeunes Filles de Bamako in 1988 and earned her medical doctorate in 1995 from the prestigious Academy of Medicine in Moscow, Russia. Entering the Malian Armed Forces in 2000, she earned successive promotions—Lieutenant (2001), Captain (2007), Commandant (2011), Lieutenant-Colonel (2015), and Colonel (2019), culminating in her current rank.
Experience
Her early career included roles at CHU Gabriel Touré’s pediatric ward, epidemiology work at FMPOS Bamako, and military medical service at air force infirmaries, culminating as Medical Director at the base 101 air force facility in Senou and President of the DCSSA mutual health board. She also led as Regional Health Director of Bamako and served as Mali’s national COVID-19 focal point in 2020, and as a member of the national COVID coordination committee.
Achievements
Before her ministerial appointment, she served as Special Adviser in charge of the president's social welfare portfolio, where she implemented high-visibility, citizen-facing programs. As Minister, she has spearheaded high-impact public health initiatives such as a mass free screening campaign in October 2024, providing testing for malaria, hypertension, diabetes, breast, and cervical cancers to nearly 1,400 citizens with support from the WHO.
Education
She later obtained a Master’s in Public Health specializing in health system management and health economics, a CES (Certificate of Special Studies) in Cardiology, and an international aviation medicine diploma from the Val-de-Grâce training center.
