Banjul, the Gambia — Partners under the West Africa Roll-Back Malaria Sub Regional Network (WARN) have developed a 2012 Work Plan after sharing information with country representatives on the implementation of the 2011 road maps.

Participants at the West African Malaria Control Activities Annual Review and Planning meeting which ended on 14th October, 2011 in Banjul, The Gambia agreed on the work plan. The meeting heard presentations on cross-border malaria control and elimination initiative as well as on feasibility studies and related knowledge gaps in the malaria control and elimination process.

The participants also reviewed the 2011 anti-malaria roadmap for Member States which highlighted various interventions and shared best practices for malaria control and elimination in Africa. Addressing the meeting, the Health Adviser to the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Marianne Ngoulla, reiterated the need for a continent-wide war against malaria to stop further human and socio-economic devastation by the mosquito-borne disease.

In Africa, malaria is both a disease of poverty and a cause of poverty, which imposes a heavy cost not only on the national income, but also on the rate of economic growth, and therefore on the level of economic development in the long run. The 10th Assembly of the West African Health Organization (WAHO) in 2009 passed a resolution to eliminate malaria in the region by 2015 through strengthening vector control activities.

Experts believe that attaining this goal in the ECOWAS region would require a comprehensive and coherent communication strategy to raise the public profile of the programme, coupled with effective advocacy with critical stakeholders, and behavioural change. To this end, the ECOWAS Commission plans a communication analysis of its malaria intervention programmes in order to design an appropriate strategy for implementation.

The Banjul meeting recommended that the ECOWAS Commission complete an ongoing study on the socio-economic impact of malaria in the ECOWAS region in collaboration with Member States and partners. The meeting was co-organized by WAHO, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF as well as WARN and other partners.