Sergio Giani, born in Trieste (Italy) to Sicilian parents in 1946, studied Pharmacy in Catania, where he actively participated in student struggles. In 1971, he defended a thesis on “La Flore Officinale du terroir de Modica. From 1977 to 1990 he was holder of the rural pharmacy of Malfa (Island of Salina), where he animated the Promoting Committee of the Natural Reserve of Salina, thus winning, in 1983, the prize "A life for nature" of WWF Italy.
From 1988 he worked as an expert pharmacist in international cooperation programs in Mali, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Morocco and Papua New Guinea.
From 1997, he lived and worked in Mali in the field of development, management and monitoring of community health programs, with particular attention to the development of traditional medicine resources, the decentralization of health and experimentation with the computerization of local health systems, participating in field experiments all over Mali: Bamako, Kolokani, Bandiagara, Kadiolo, Youwarou, etc., collaborating with the Italian Cooperation, the Swiss Cooperation and the United Nations Agencies, in particular Unicef and the WHO, as well as civil society organisations.
In 2003, he was a founding member and responsible for the programs of the NGO "Help for the development of Traditional Medicine".
From 2012, he collaborated with the School of Advanced Studies in Public Health in Bamako, giving courses and supervising dissertations and theses in the fields of "Traditional Medicine and Public Health" and "Traditional Food Supplements".
In 2019, he became coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Research Institute "WEB Du Bois".
Dr. Sergio GIANI is author, co-author or coordinator of more than fifty books, notebooks, popular articles and scientific publications, among which we cite: (i) The Medicinal Plants of the Aeolian Islands (1987); (ii) The Bamako Initiative in Mali: pharmaceutical reform and the role of traditional medicine in Cooperation and Health in Mali (1992); (iii) Between the Rocks and the Sun: Experiences in the Restoration of Endangered Medicinal Species on the Dogon Plateau (2007); (iv) Women's War: Traditional Birth Attendants and Promoting Safe Motherhood (2009); (v) People and Plants: Valorization of Traditional Medicine resources in Kadiolo (2010); (vi) Traditional Medicines and Local Development: Methodologies and Approaches (2011); (vii) Decentralization and Health: Research-Action on the Decentralization of Health and the Promotion of Traditional Medicine in Kadiolo (2012); (iii) Women and Plants: Economic empowerment and empowerment of women through the promotion of local knowledge on plants in Bamako and Ségou (2012); (ix) Traditional Medicine and Divinatory Arts: The case of Mandé in Mali - Cahier de FESCAURI no 1 (2016); (x) Climate Change and Local Knowledge: Peace, Resilience and Integrated Development in Mandé - Cahier de FESCAURI no 2 (2018); (xi) Spaces, Societies and Health: The Rites of Passage - Cahier de FESCAURI no 3 (2019); (xii) Global health - Epidemic, society, economy and politics in the Sahel: Different perspectives on Covid-19 - Cahier d'IRIS WEB Du Bois no 1 (2021).
Of Italian origin, Sergio GIANI acquired Malian nationality in 2017.
Dr Sergio GIANI has been a Pharmacist of the world and Actor of sustainable development, particularly in the field of the valorization of knowledge and know-how in health, management and evaluation of health systems, management of essential drugs, health programs. emergency, WASH (local chlorine production).
Despite his state of health, he continued to participate in training and research activities. In 2022, he gave an interview for the documentary film on Traditional Medicine in progress.
In February 2023, Dr Sergio GIANI finalized his last book which is not yet published. It is about “Traditional Medicine and Universal Coverage in Health Care. Is another Health System possible? » Field experiences of Master I in Public Health trainees from the School of Advanced Studies in Public Health in Bamako, concerning the involvement of Traditional Medicine resources in Conventional Medicine activities.
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