The 10th Summit will centre on high-level dialogue and concrete commitments to accelerate malaria elimination across the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). The Summit will include keynote addresses from global and regional leaders, alongside ministerial discussions and focused sessions aimed at translating political commitment into sustained action for the last mile to elimination.
This session will take stock of progress towards malaria elimination across the GMS, acknowledging increasingly diverging trajectories as the region enters the last mile. It will examine the anticipated funding landscape for 2027–2029 and its implications for national malaria programmes, particularly in the context of sustainability and transition. The discussion will also explore how countries are approaching sustainability and transition planning, highlighting shared priorities to protect gains and sustain elimination outcomes.
This session will provide an overview of experiences from China, Sri Lanka, Timor‑Leste, and Malaysia in sustaining malaria elimination. It will explore effective approaches the countries have taken on POR, including on surveillance and response systems, and risk stratification. The discussion will further examine how countries have navigated post‑elimination landscapes and donor transitions to sustain political commitment, domestic financing, and the technical capacity required for effective POR.
This session will identify how malaria can be more strategically positioned within broader health, development, and economic systems to attract sustained political priority and financing. It will assess how these entry points can be translated into investable and sustainable financing pathways to support malaria elimination and POR efforts.
This session will bring together country stakeholders and partners to discuss emerging opportunities for malaria financing in an open exchange. It will focus on priorities surfaced during the Summit and identify areas for further exploration and collaboration to advance sustainable financing solutions for the last mile.
Honorable Minister of Health of Lao PDR
Chief Executive Officer of APLMA
Director General of the Department of Communicable Disease Control (DCDC), Ministry of Health of Lao PDR
Board Chair of APLMA and Director of the JLI Center for Global Health Diplomacy
Chair of the Regional Steering Committee (RSC) for the Regional Artemisinin-resistance Initiative (RAI)
Board Member of APLMA and Chair of China’s National Malaria Expert Committee
The 10th Asia Pacific Leaders’ Summit on Malaria Elimination is a Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)-focused event hosted by the Government of Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), in partnership with the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA). It will take place on 5th June 2026, at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Vientiane, Lao PDR. This Leaders' Summit will bring together ministers, senior government officials, national, regional and global leaders.
Under the theme “Committed to 2030: Regional Action for the Last Mile”, this year’s Summit will place a strong focus on six GMS countries, with the aim of accelerating malaria elimination across the subregion by 2030.
Unlike past Summits which were larger in scale, this year’s Summit puts a niche focus on the six GMS countries: Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Across the GMS, the malaria landscape has diverged sharply over the few years: the Eastern GMS is approaching elimination, with three countries approaching fewer than 300 annual cases; on the other hand, the Western GMS faces renewed transmission challenges, including the persistent threat of antimalarial drug resistance. With the subregion standing at a critical juncture in the elimination timeline, this divergence necessitates a differentiated approach to ensure all GMS countries reach the regional elimination goal.
This high-level event will harness collective momentum to address remaining challenges, as well as to discuss long-term programmatic and financial sustainability for the entire subregion. The Summit will serve as a platform for countries to jointly commit towards increasing domestic resource mobilization, and represents a pivotal opportunity to transform regional progress into coordinated action, ensuring the GMS becomes the first multi-country region in Asia Pacific to achieve malaria elimination.
While we recognise strong interest from a broad range of stakeholders across Asia Pacific, the 10th Leaders’ Summit is an invite-only event.
The Government of Lao PDR and APLMA will send invitations to selected sponsored participants. If you have not received an invitation, please email us at malarialeaders@aplma.org for more information.
Virtual participation opportunities are currently under consideration. Further details will be communicated closer to the event date through the Summit website and APLMA’s social media channels. We encourage you to follow our platforms for updates:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asia-pacific-leaders-malaria-alliance/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APLMA2030/ X: https://x.com/APLMA_Malaria
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplma_malaria/
10th Summit Website: https://www.aplma.org/summit-2026
For sponsored participants, all costs are covered by the organizers. Non-sponsored participants are responsible for their own travel, accommodation, and personal expenses.
Your sponsorship status will be indicated in your invitation email. If you have received an invitation and are unsure of your sponsorship status, please contact us at malarialeaders@aplma.org.
Yes. Photographs, audio, and video recordings will be taken throughout the 10th Leaders' Summit. By attending the event, participants acknowledge that the Government of Lao PDR and APLMA reserve the right to use and distribute all materials from the 10th Leaders' Summit with partners, media, and on its digital and social media platforms.
For any additional enquiries not covered in this FAQ, please reach out to us at malarialeaders@aplma.org.
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