Outwitting Malaria through Stronger Partnerships

Ministers discuss Yaoundé roadmap

RBM held conversations on the need to step up malaria funding at the sidelines of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for Africa meeting in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. A sequence of meetings with Ministers of Health and technical teams from some of the High Burden High Impact countries, including Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger and Ghana enabled RBM to hold consultations on how to strengthen collaboration in implementing the Yaoundé Declaration and accelerating progress towards malaria elimination.

The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the Yaoundé Declaration, with Colonel Dr Assa Badiallo Touré, Minister of Health and Public Hygiene for Mali highlighting that, as part of the Yaoundé Declaration implementation roadmap, the country is rolling out a malaria vaccination campaign. A combination of vaccines and communication campaigns, she explained, will help prevent malaria.

“Through communication, we can prevent malaria rather than spend money treating it,” she said. Added that the government of the country, which has made remarkable progress in expanding insecticide treated mosquito net (ITN) coverage, including a 200 percent increase in ITN coverage since 2007, is now moving to include malaria indicators in the upcoming population survey.

Each of the countries shared their successes, with Burkina Faso indicating that the government has invested $10 million in malaria vaccination. Burkina Faso Minister of Health, Dr Robert Lucien Jean-Claude Kargouhou, emphasized that it is important for Africa to work towards being able to sustainably and independently respond to issues affecting them, including malaria.

The ministers variously appreciated RBM and partners support, and called upon even more collaboration to raise resources and address the challenges that malaria presents and how it intersects with other factors to hinder development.

What does Africa need to accelerate progress towards ending malaria?

This was the question that leaders at the RBM-convened dinner to reflect on Africa’s progress in eliminating malaria pondered. With biological threats intersecting with inequalities driven by conflict and climate change, the leaders, who included African ministers, civil society and government technical teams, emphasized the need to increase vector control efforts and strengthen political engagement to fight malaria.

“There are so many vector-borne diseases that we do not know what next to do with these vectors. We must strengthen our coordination and support to countries through End Malaria councils,” H.E Ambassador Minata Samate Cessouma, AU Commissioner for health said. “Through strengthening interventions such as End Malaria Councils, private sector engagement and supporting countries to mainstream malaria in the budget, we can accelerate progress towards eliminating malaria.”

Dr Oumar Diouhe, the Guinea Minister of Health, highlighted plans for the country to roll out vaccines by the end of the year while calling for regular communication and support to national malaria plans. Colonel Major Garba Hakim, Niger Minister of Health reported that the country has subsidized costs of doing malaria-related medical examinations and plans are underway to rollout the vaccines.

An Unacceptable injustice: RBM calls for an end to malaria inequality

Malaria is keeping African families poor while straining health systems and making existing vulnerabilities such as displacement and gender inequality worse, the RBM Partnership to End Malaria has warned. While the past two decades saw progress in the fight against malaria, with dedicated innovation averting 11.7 million deaths from the disease, there has been a resurgence in recent years, the partnership further pointed out as they met African leaders at the sidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa meeting in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. Africa is the hardest hit, as over 90 percent of malaria cases and deaths occur on the continent.

“This is a disease that is intersecting with other inequalities and mostly affecting people on a continent that already has complex challenges that we are yet to properly address. When malaria mixes with existing poverty, rising conflict and displacement, the vagaries of climate change and gender inequalities, it breeds an injustice that widens the gap within Africa and between Africa and other parts of the world,” RBM Partnership CEO, Dr Michael Adekunle Charles said as he called for a multisectoral approach that recognizes and addresses the way malaria affects other development aspects.

Read More in the news release

RBM welcomes nomination of next director for WHO African Region

The RBM Partnership to End Malaria welcomed the nomination of Dr Faustine Engelbert Ndugulile as the next Regional Director for the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region and congratulated him upon being the next to take on this important mantle.

The nomination comes at a time when 95 percent of cases and 96 percent of deaths from malaria are on the African continents and country health systems are strained. Further, resistance to insecticide and treatment is making it harder to manage the disease and putting more lives at risk.

“We congratulate Dr Ndugulile on his nomination. We are confident that, under his leadership, the region will see accelerated progress in the fight against malaria, which is one of the continent’s most pressing health challenges. His dedication to improving the lives of millions across Africa strongly aligns with our goals, and we look forward to working closely with him to make progress on our common interest.

The RBM Partnership to End Malaria would also like to extend its gratitude and thanks to Dr Matshidiso Moeti for her commendable efforts and commitment to strengthening Africa’s public health response for the last decade,” Dr Michael Adekunle Charles, RBM CEO, said.

Read more in RBM’s congratulatory remarks

Setting the agenda for malaria discourse at WHO RC Africa meeting

The WHO Regional Committee Africa meeting saw renewed efforts to strengthen local production of health commodities on the continent to boost local economies and strengthen health security. This is an important step in making life-saving items, including those for malaria, more accessible. The meeting also featured the impact of monkey pox on the continent, including on displaced people, and unveiling a plan to tackle the disease. RBM took the malaria discourse to the Regional Committee meeting and featured in Voice of America (VOA) live updates highlighting the impact of malaria on the continent’s progress.

Michael Adekunle Charles, RBM Partnership to End Malaria CEO, spoke to RFI Radio France Internationale (RFI) about why 2025 is a critical year in the fight against malaria, highlighting that it is the replenishment year and will place us five years away from the 2039 deadline for achieving malaria goals. He called for more intersectoral funding towards malaria elimination.

RFI is a state-owned international broadcaster. With an estimated 59.5 million listeners, the French radio news network is one of the most listened to international radio stations in the world, placed alongside others like VOA and BBC.

Interview

The engagement with RFI, VOA and other key media at the RC meeting enabled malaria to stay high on the agenda, including featuring in another VOA interview with Dr Austin Demby, Sierra Leone Minister for health where he highlighted some of the ?tools that the country is employing in the fight against malaria, including introducing the new malaria vaccine, expanding insecticide treated mosquito net coverage and made testing accessible. Learn more about the steps Sierra Leone has taken to accelerate progress towards malaria elimination at 9:04 here.

Let’s continue setting the malaria agenda together.

Malaria on the next WHO Regional Committee for Africa Agenda

As the regional committee meeting wrapped up, and the agenda for next regional committee meeting set, a suggestion was tabled to include malaria and its impact on development on the African continent on the agenda for discussion during the next regional committee meeting. This is a remarkable achievement, following RBM’s stalwart engagement on malaria and how it intersects with other development and social issues to make existing inequalities and vulnerabilities worse. Through humanised communication and targeted engagements, including at a side event on innovation that RBM had with Partner, UNITAID, the partnership remains dedicated to keeping malaria on the minds of the people and, in turn, that of decision makers. We look forward to the malaria ?conversation at the 75th WHO RC Africa meeting in 2025. Watch the moment when the malaria was suggested for inclusion in the next regional committee meeting here.

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