Opening Remarks by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti
Your Excellency Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute, Prime Minister of the Republic of Cameroon,
Honourable Ministers of Health,
Your Excellency Aminata Samaté Cessouma, the Commissioner for Health Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development at the African Union,
Dr Jean Kaseya, the Director-General of Africa CDC,
Mr Peter Sands, the Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDs, Tuberculosis and Malaria,
Dr David Walton, the US Global Malaria Coordinator,
Ms Joy Phumaphi, the Executive Secretary of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance,
Esteemed scientists, members of the Malaria Policy Advisory Group,
Partners and colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to welcome you to this historic event.
We’ve gathered to celebrate a transformative moment in the history of public health.
Introducing two effective malaria vaccines, complementing other malaria control interventions, will be a game-changer!
It is the moment we’ve been waiting for in malaria control efforts—for millions of children, their mothers, families, and communities.
We’ve brought together countries most affected by malaria. Our global partners join us to revitalize our commitment to reducing malaria deaths in the most affected countries.
We have two approved vaccines - RTS,S and R21, which will be rolled out in 20 African countries this year, providing new hope for millions of children at risk of dying from malaria.
We piloted the groundbreaking Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP), during which we delivered RTS,S vaccines to more than 2 million children in Ghana, Malawi, and Kenya.
I thank the governments of these countries for their political will and collaboration. During the trials, it became clear that the vaccine reduced child deaths by a phenomenal 13% and severe illness by 22%.
We are showing that eliminating and controlling diseases are possible in Africa.
Algeria and Cabo Verde have eliminated malaria;
Togo eliminated four neglected tropical diseases;
And Botswana is on the road to eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
The development and rollout of malaria vaccines, along with the evidence of controlling and eliminating disease in Africa, speaks to the power of partnerships.
I would like to thank all our partners including the Global Fund, the US President’s Malaria Initiative, BMGF, and the African Leaders Malaria Alliance.
I also acknowledge the critical role played by GAVI to ensure access to life-saving vaccines and UNITAID, which provide catalytic funding for innovative strategies.
As science, research, and innovation change our approach to diseases, our office plays a central role in the regulatory space in our region through the African Vaccine Regulatory Forum (AVAREF), which we established two decades ago.
AVAREF - a network of national regulatory authorities and ethics committees from 55 member states, has been building capacity in these committees to oversee clinical trials and vaccine registration. This was highlighted recently by the accelerated introduction and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, and now, malaria vaccines.
I applaud GAVI’s recent commitment to the African Manufacturing Vaccine Accelerator and the launch of the BioNTech facility in Kigali last year. Both are excellent moves towards localizing critically needed manufacturing capacity in our continent.
I commend Dr Jean Kaseya, the DG of Africa CDC, for his leadership in setting up the African Manufacturing Vaccine Accelerator.
Investment in strong regulatory systems is essential, highlighting the critical role of AVAREF and the operationalization of the African Medicines Agency across the African continent.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
We have started the rollout of RTS,S in Cameroon and Burkina Faso.
I commend these countries as the first two expected to introduce malaria vaccines this year. I particularly congratulate the Prime Ministers of Cameroon and Burkina Faso and their Ministers of Health.
Twins were the first children in Cameroon to receive the vaccine. Their mother, Helene, knows firsthand just how devastating malaria can be. No mother should watch her child die of a preventable disease like malaria.
Our regional team is strongly committed to convening and coordinating the actions of governments and partners in malaria vaccine introduction through our strategic initiative, the Accelerated Malaria Vaccine Introduction and Rollout in Africa (AMVIRA).
Additionally, our country presence enables us to support all our Member States’ work, in conducting disease programme reviews, developing national plans, and estimating the budget required for disease control and elimination.
We have also enhanced the support to countries in developing quality applications submitted to the Global Health Initiatives, while ensuring that grants are implemented in line with existing WHO guidelines on malaria, HIV and other diseases.
This effort has resulted in the resource mobilization required to address the malaria burden in countries, and other health concerns, such as immunization, HIV, and TB.
Despite all our efforts, global gains in malaria have levelled off, and we are greatly concerned that the number of deaths remained higher in 2022 than in 2019; and that cases have continued to increase since 2015, with our region recording over 95% of cases and deaths.
I will not cease to emphasize the devastating effect of malaria in our region. Around 80% of these deaths are in children under the age of five years.
We cannot continue to allow our children to die.
We cannot continue to experience the costs of this disease, in the burden on mothers caring for sick children, in people unable to work while doing this, in the economic and social consequences of millions of children failing to grow to adulthood.
In response to this and given the flat-lining of funding for malaria and competing health priorities regionally, we have redefined priorities for investments to ensure that interventions have an impact:
We have developed the Regional Framework for controlling, eliminating, and eradicating tropical and vector-borne diseases (2022-2030), adopted by all Ministers of Health at the 72nd session of the Regional Committee for Africa.
We have introduced an innovative Strategy for ending disease in Africa. It is grounded in deploying data analytics and evidence-based policy; it will drive the delivery of relevant and tailored public health interventions to prioritized populations and communities.
We are documenting and disseminating best practices to illustrate the importance of country-driven and country-led solutions.
Allow me to share two examples:
Nigeria, with the highest burden of malaria globally, has conducted a deep dive to understand the distribution of the disease, leading to a subnational malaria report with tailored state-level interventions.
Ghana, another high-burden country, registered a 33% decrease in malaria cases and a 7% decrease in deaths between 2015 and 2021. It has just launched the first National Strategy for Malaria Elimination, to end malaria deaths by 2028.
Malaria is one of many priorities for our countries. Global Health Initiatives now recognize the importance of more integrated approaches, particularly within health systems, to addressing priority diseases.
In a person-centred approach, we need to accelerate the implementation of disease interventions in alignment with national priorities. We must involve communities, civil society, healthcare workers, and all stakeholders.
I am going to leave you with these key priorities.
First, we must act urgently to accelerate the groundbreaking rollout of malaria vaccines across eligible countries. We also need to encourage other innovative tools and strategies.
Second, Honourable Ministers, we must now scale up the malaria vaccine rollout and the full package of malaria interventions to achieve the 2030 targets.
Your decision to sign the Yaoundé declaration clearly demonstrates your commitment to changing the malaria experience in Africa.
Third, we need high-level regional and country-level leadership to strengthen health systems. It will ensure the effective delivery of the interventions needed at all levels, from primary health care to tertiary facilities.
I remain committed to providing a convening and collaborating role, supporting our countries as they work with all stakeholders to accelerate our response to malaria and other diseases in Africa.
Thank you for your kind attention.