Staying the Course to End Malaria - Partners' Update April 2021

by • 29 Apr 2021

Flags of ASEAN

Staying the Course to End Malaria

Dear Partners,

Earlier in the year, as the rest of world tightened restrictions to fight COVID-19, Asia flattened its curve of infections. Some countries even began reopening its economies. For a brief moment there was hope. Now the pandemic is soaring – from Papua New Guinea to Indonesia, Thailand and India, our region faces new waves and new variants of COVID-19. The pressure on healthcare systems is mounting, people are suffering; we struggle with vaccine access, particularly where the needs are most. The situation is heart-breaking.

Many of us have just marked World Malaria 2021, an opportunity to focus the world’s attention on the significant progress to date in our region while also emphasizing the importance of continued, investment and political will to sustain the momentum towards malaria elimination. An opportunity to also shine a spotlight on the malaria champions across our countries and network who have been working tirelessly to maintain malaria services whilst battling COVID-19. We are grateful.

COVID-19 has certainly disrupted Asia Pacific’s progress towards malaria elimination, but there have been positive strides; from a steady reduction in cases over the last decade to many countries at the cusp of elimination. Our Leaders’ Dashboard 2020 revealed the region has shown great resilience in sustaining efforts against malaria and continued to push policy reforms, even during the pandemic. While, the COVID-19 alone is proving itself to be disastrous in many ways, its impact will be significantly more devastating if permitted to interrupt health services required to treat malaria and other diseases.

If there are any lessons to be learned from the pandemic, for malaria and other communicable diseases, it is optimizing surveillance and real-time data to inform program planning at local and district levels. This must be combined with a sustained emphasis on long-term capacity building at district and subnational levels for disease program management, to reach the last mile in malaria elimination.

Thank you all for your continued partnership - stay safe and well.

Best wishes,

Dr Sarthak Das , DrPH

Chief Executive Officer

Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance

World Malaria Day 2021

April 25th 2021 marked the second World Malaria Day against the backdrop of the pandemic, but the first for Dr Sarthak Das as CEO of APLMA. A prime opportunity for reflection and to come together as leaders, partners and countries to share preliminary lessons learned in the age of pandemics and to highlight the urgency to re-accelerate gains and investments, to fight malaria, COVID-19 and other emerging diseases. We also launched an infographic to spotlight the regions progress.

New Country Reports & APLMA Leaders’ Dashboard Launch

The APLMA Leaders’ Dashboard 2020 revealed resilience in sustaining efforts against malaria elimination. Six policy milestones turned green in six different countries this year. In addition, three country report deep dives for Papua New Guinea, India and Indonesia are now available.

Vulnerability to Malaria in Asia Pacific: Being Gender Responsive

We marked this year's International Women's Day, by exploring the relationship between gender and malaria. Our thematic brief in collaboration with The Partnership for Maternal Newborn & Child Health provides an overview of regional challenges, cases studies, gender-sensitive and gender-responsive elimination strategies.

Png mother & children copyright asian development bank

APMEN March Newsletter

APMEN welcomed its Chairs for the Surveillance & Response, Vector Control and Vivax Working Groups. Check out other important announcements and updates from the Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network. Visit: www.apmen.org

Latest Global Fund Report Shows Disruption Caused by COVID-19

The latest data by the Global Fund shows that for April to September 2020, compared to the same six-month period in 2019, malaria diagnoses fell 56% and malaria treatment services plummeted by 59% in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao, Pakistan and the Philippines, with the deepest disruption reported in rural areas where the more vulnerable and harder-to-reach communities live.

Tribute to John Storey

We are deeply saddened by the passing of John Storey, eminent malariaologist and former WHO malaria advisor in Asia Pacific. John made an immense contribution to malaria elimination and touched the lives of countless malaria and health workers across the region. He truly made a difference during his long career and will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time.