As of Wednesday 6th March, the Minister of Public Health will preside over the inter-ministerial conference on the fight against malaria.

The meeting in Yaounde brings together representatives from 12 countries and other dignitaries from the World Health Organisation (WHO). This is in view of the international conference on the fight against malaria theme “Fighting malaria in most affected countries by the disease”. Progress in the fight against malaria will be discussed. Assessing risks such as insecticide and drug resistance and access to quality care will also be on the agenda.

According to the WHO, in 2022, 608,000 people have died from malaria in Africa. The international conference hence aims at strengthening political and financial commitments to accelerate the response to tackle the plague in high-burden countries.

Participating countries are Cameroon, Mali, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Niger, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, India and the United Republic of Tanzania. In support of the initiatives, representatives from funding agencies, philanthropic organisations, global malaria advocates and civil society are also to attend the conference.