Libreville, February 25, 2022 - This Friday, the ECCAS Commission and its partners, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Roll Back Malaria Partnership (RBM) and the Alliance of African Heads of State for Malaria Elimination (ALMA), held a feedback meeting on the regional malaria elimination plan for Central Africa.

 
The objective of this meeting was to have a common understanding of the content of the plan for self-appropriation by all stakeholders, which will facilitate their effective participation in the following stages of its adoption and implementation.


In her speech at the official opening of this meeting, Mrs KAPINGA Yvette-Ngandu, Commissioner in charge of the Department of Gender Promotion, Human and Social Development, on behalf of His Excellency Ambassador GILBERTO DA PIEDADE VERISSIMO, President of the ECCAS Commission, stated that sub-Saharan Africa alone accounts for 96% of the deaths attributable to malaria recorded in the world. Children under 5 years of age bear the brunt with 80% of all recorded malaria deaths in 2020.


He also recalled that the malaria situation in the ECCAS sub-region requires special attention as the 11 ECCAS member states alone account for nearly a quarter (1/4) of the global burden of malaria morbidity and mortality.

The development of this regional plan for malaria elimination in Central Africa is based on the recommendations of the WHO Global Technical Strategy 2016-2030 and aims to identify priority regional interventions to support each of the 11 countries in the ECCAS region to achieve their malaria elimination targets and to propose regional initiatives to fill the gaps and reach the most vulnerable and landlocked populations.

The priority regional interventions identified are to   :

       1.  Support the promotion of political and financial commitment to malaria elimination at the highest level of national and regional decision makers;

     2.   Strengthen regional coordination and inter and multi-sectoral collaboration to achieve the goal of malaria elimination;

    3.   Promote by 2026, the surveillance system, monitoring and evaluation, and research to accelerate the process towards malaria elimination;

   4.    Facilitate cross-border collaboration in the coordination and implementation of certain interventions such as Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLINs) distribution campaigns;

  5.   Mobilise resources to support the implementation of the strategic plan, and ensure long-term sustainability for the regional malaria elimination ambitions.

At the end of the meeting, participants committed to join efforts and strengthen collaboration in the next steps of the validation of this plan, including the preparation of a series of consultations with member states:
    - Technical meeting of experts in charge of National Malaria Control Plans (NMCPs) planned for 11 April 2022;

   - Meeting of Ministers of Health scheduled for 20 April 2022; and

  - presentation of the Plan to the Conference of Heads of State and Government of ECCAS Member States in July 2022.

Closing the meeting, Mrs. KAPINGA Yvette-Ngandu, Commissioner in charge of the Department of Gender Promotion, Human and Social Development, on behalf of His Excellency Ambassador GILBERTO DA PIEDADE VERÍSSIMO, President of the ECCAS Commission thanked the partners and consultants who contributed to the elaboration of this regional plan for the elimination of malaria and expressed the willingness and availability of the authorities of the ECCAS Commission to continue this collaboration until the effective implementation of this plan, which will allow to wait for the objectives of elimination of malaria in Central Africa.