APMEN & APLMA: partners in regional malaria elimination

The Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN) and the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA) have co-signed a Letter of Understanding on 17 October in Sri Lanka, formalising a strategic partnership to drive malaria elimination in the Asia Pacific through a series of strategic advocacy, knowledge generation and policy reform initiatives.

APMEN established in 2009 brings together 16 Country Partners who have each declared national and or subnational malaria elimination goals, as well as policy makers, research and training institutes, and funding bodies among other stakeholders, to share knowledge on the latest developments in malaria elimination efforts from the region.

Initiated in October 2013 at the 8th East Asia Summit in Brunei by the Australian Government, the Asia Pacific Leader’s Malaria Alliance (APLMA) focus is to foster political commitment for regional malaria elimination and the building blocks to achieve it at the highest levels of government. Two important taskforces are mandated to address Regional Financing and Improving Access to Quality Medicines and Other Technologies and these will contribute to evidenced based policy processes (View/Download the APLMA Taskforce Progress Report 2014 here).

Attending the 9th annual meeting of the Malaria Elimination Group (MEG) in Negombo, Sri Lanka, co-hosted by the Malaria Elimination Initiative and the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health, Executive Secretary ad interim Dr Ben Rolfe said the APMEN-APLMA partnership provided an important opportunity to support linkages and collaboration between the National Malaria Control Programmes of countries in the Asia Pacific who have made remarkable progress since 2000.

"Our goal of a malaria-free Asia Pacific by 2030 is ambitious, but certainly achievable." Mr Rolfe said. At the upcoming 9th East Asia Summit being held in Myanmar on 11-12 November, APLMA will support regional collaboration and political commitment at the highest level towards this 2030 goal.

APMEN Co-Coordinator Professor Maxine Whittaker represented APMEN at the signing and said "APMEN countries support the vision of a malaria-free region, but as cases of malaria continue to decline, national malaria programs face decreases in funding. It is at this critical point that funding needs to be maintained to sustain the gains from malaria control, and finally eliminate the disease".

Source: Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN), 6 November 2014, view