Malaria most affected countries: Cameroon to host inter-ministerial conference March 6.

The ministers, alongside other key stakeholders, will be meeting to strengthen political and financial commitments for accelerated malaria responses in High Burden to High Impact, HBHI countries.

This is with a view to achieving the 2030 targets of the Global Technical Strategy, GTS, for malaria 2016-2030.

The conference to be held on March 6, will be preceded by a meeting of the Malaria Policy Advisory Group on March 4 to 5 in Yaounde. 

Convened by the World Health Organisation, WHO, the conference has been placed on the theme: “Tackling malaria in countries hardest hit by the disease”. 

According to WHO, in 2022 alone, malaria claimed the lives of about 608,000 people in Africa. 

The WHO, however, believes that with available resources and tools, African countries can drastically reduce or end malaria mortality. 

As such, the conference, will be an opportunity for the different governments to assess achievements made towards reducing the global malaria burden as well as challenges such as insecticide and drug resistance, inadequate access to quality healthcare and funding limitations. 

In view of translating commitment into concrete actions and financial backing, the conference will also provide a unique opportunity for the participants to establish a roadmap for increased political commitment and societal engagement in malaria control, with a clear accountability mechanism. 

A declaration reflecting this roadmap is expected to be signed by health ministers attending the conference. 

Progress towards the commitments outlined in the roadmap will be monitored through an accountability mechanism that tracks annual malaria deaths and domestic resources for malaria. Civil society organisations and parliamentarians from HBHI countries will play an active role in the process.

Funding limiting anti-malaria actions 

In recent decades, commitments to combat malaria have included the 2000 Abuja Declaration, which called on African Union Heads of State to allocate at least 15% of their government budgets to health, and the African Union Agenda 2063 focused on Universal Health Coverage, UHC. 

Despite these efforts, the translation of political commitments into resources and actions face challenges, exemplified by the unmet target of the Abuja Declaration, with average government health spending reaching only 7.2% by 2020. 

Inadequate funding, the WHO has stated, remains a major hurdle in the fight against malaria. In 2022, a total of US$ 4.1 billion was mobilised for malaria globally against a target of US$ 7.8 billion. 

The funding gap between the amount invested and resources needed has widened in recent years, reaching US$ 3.7 billion in 2022. 

In addition, malaria control efforts have been undermined in recent years by a convergence of threats including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and humanitarian crises such as conflicts, malnutrition and flooding. 

Biological threats, including insecticide and drug resistance, the spread of Anopheles stephensi, an invasive mosquito vector of malaria, and HRP2/3 gene deletions, have the potential to further compromise progress, particularly in Africa. 

An urgent response is needed to address these challenges and stop people from dying of malaria. 

With current tools such as vector control, preventive chemotherapies and malaria vaccines, stakeholders say it is possible to lower malaria case incidence and significantly reduce mortality by improving access to quality clinical care.

Participating countries

Participants are expected from Cameroon, Burkina Faso, DR Congo, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda and United Republic of Tanzania) and India. 

They will also come from funding agencies, philanthropic organizations, coalitions and partnerships, UN organisations, global malaria advocates, civil society organisations, parliamentarians from HBHI countries, amongst others. 

The conference will be supported by the African Leaders Malaria Alliance, ALMA; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Vaccine Alliance, Gavi; RBM Partnership to End Malaria; Unitaid; and the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP.