Fight against malaria: Health parliamentary caucus salutes contribution of key actors.

The parliamentary caucus made the appreciation during a fact-finding mission to some Yaounde-based structures. During the February 6 to 8 exercise, the team also visited key players in the fight against malaria. The tour was organised in collaboration with the Non-governmental Organisation, Impact Santé Afrique, ISA.

During the second day of the tour, the parliamentarians made stopovers at the Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases, CRID; the Organisation for the Coordination of Endemic Control in Central Africa, OCEAC and the Pan-African Mosquito Control Association, PAMCA. At CRID, the MPs were led to a guided tour of the structure by its Executive Director, Prof Charles Wondji. 

Addressing the staff and senior officials of CRID, the Coordinator of the parliamentary caucus, Hon Njume Peter Ambang explained that they are a group of MPs committed to supporting national and international efforts towards the elimination of malaria.  

As such, he said, they decided to engage the tour in a bid to better understand the scientific advances and challenges in the fight against malaria. Hon Njume also talked about moves to strengthen the dialogue between research and policy to improve public health in Cameroon.

“What this centre is doing here, I want to say is the pride of Cameroon. We have observed that it is of international standards,” Hon Njume said. 

The Coordinator of the caucus further mentioned that “to see that it is being carried out by a Cameroonian and the number of youth who are studying and carrying out research here, signals hope for Cameroonian research in medicine especially for diseases like malaria”. 

While congratulating Prof Wondji for the tremendous investment which will benefit Cameroon and Africans, the MP pledged to accompany the malaria researcher and mosquito geneticist. 

“We have listened to the challenges they are facing and as parliamentarians we are going to accompany him in the realisation of his dream. He needs our support and encouragement,” Hon Njume insisted. 

Prof Wondji speaks about CRID 

According to Prof Wondji, CRID was created some seven years ago as a not-for-profit institution by some Cameroonians. 

“We have been working in partnership with several partners internationally to put in place a state-of-the-art facility that could enable us in Cameroon to generate all the evidences that we need, without going abroad, to inform the Ministry of Public Health about the best strategies to reduce the burden of malaria and other diseases like sleeping sickness,” CRID Executive Director said. 

He said they are proud to have established an international standard facility in Cameroon. Prof Wondji said they centre has trained a new generation of African scientists capable of competitively attracting funding by competing against the best in the world. 

After highlighting the challenges they face, Prof Wondji thanked the MPs for their declared support to the activities and promise to continue making valuable contribution to the health system in Cameroon.

Appreciate efforts of OCEAC 

During their next stopover at the OCEAC head-office, the parliamentary caucus was briefed on the contribution of the institution towards the control of diseases like malaria in Cameroon and the CEMAC sub-region. 

Going by Dr Antonio Nkondjio Christophe, researcher at OCEAC, they have been engaged in researches on diseases like malaria, trypanosomiasis, HIV/AIDS and Neglected Tropical Diseases amongst others. 

Highlighting their contributing to the malaria fight, Dr Nkondjio said they, “are conducting research to understand the vector population, how live in the environment, transmit the diseases, the frequency and the different species as well as their resistance to pesticides”. 

He also mentioned that OCEAC helps in putting in place control interventions so as to inform the National Malaria Control Programme on the most effective approaches in the fight against malaria. 

It is worth noting that the three-day mission enabled the MPs touch the realities of the fight against malaria at central level, and to document the main challenges faced by key players in this fight. 

It was equally an opportunity for them to establish a constructive dialogue with key actors, and to monitor the implementation of malaria control programmes at national level.