National and international pressmen say effective communication is indispensable.

Preparations for the fourth Pan African Conference and Forum V of Roll Back Malaria Partnership billed for Cameroon from November 13-19, 2005 are already hitting up. National and international media experts last Thursday met at the Nkolbissong Biotechnology Centre in Yaounde to discuss strategies geared towards effective coverage and communication.

Participants resolved to build up a story bank for TV, radio and the written press, organise frequent roundtable conferences, do regular short stories and documentaries on the pandemic, produce daily press releases, webcasting, etc. The journalists also discussed modalities of receiving their foreign colleagues expected in the country in October.

The Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) 2005 will be the largest malaria conference ever organised in the world. Some 2000 delegates from 64 countries, including Heads of States and other dignitaries will participate at the seven-day conference. The conference will provide malaria scientists, from all disciplines, the opportunity to meet and form new partnerships.

MIM 2005, which is open to malaria researchers and control experts the world-over, as well as science administrators, representatives of private foundations, governments and international organisations, will mainly focus on the scientific progress and potentials in malaria research within Africa.

According to recent research publications, malaria is a major killer disease in Africa and a primary cause of poverty. Statistics show that 5000 African children die from malaria every day, while there are over 350 million clinical cases among children and adults world-wide. But, African scientists have for the past years been worried about two main problems: the rate of drug resistance developed by parasites, and the biting silence of the international community towards the killer disease. A WHO expert, however, observed that "malaria is a poor man's disease, with its ravishing impact limited to Africa. That's the reason behind the biting silence."

Professor Wilfred Mbacham, MIM 2005 Conference Coordinator has, on his part, told journalists that "the conference will encourage and consolidate collaboration and linkages of limited and fragmented resources in Africa into networks that can have a stronger scientific and public health impact on the continent."