Honorable Ministers and heads of delegations;
Dr Kesete Admasu, CEO of the RBM Secretariat;
Distinguished partners;
Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen
Thank you very much for joining us at this Side Event to update you on developments in the Roll Back Malaria Partnership transition, the new governance structure, the legal status and priorities for the RBM Board.
As you all know, there’s been remarkable progress in malaria control in the African Region.
Much of this progress can be attributed to the major increase in global investment in malaria - from US$ 960 million in 2005, to US$ 2.9 billion in 2015.
Through its strong partnership, RBM supported resource mobilization which led to massive deployment of effective and low-cost malaria control tools.
It’s gratifying to know that 32% of the total funding in 2015 was provided by endemic countries, in line with the call to increase domestic financing for malaria.
While RBM is undergoing a transition, we still have unfinished work on malaria control and /or elimination.
Despite the commendable progress, malaria is a major public health and development challenge in Africa – countries are still experiencing outbreaks, there are major gaps in programme coverage, and we are facing emerging challenges of the development and spread of mosquito resistance to insecticides and drug resistance.
There is a need for stronger malaria surveillance, and more inclusive, coordinated partnership under the leadership of Ministries of Health.
In addition, the Region still needs to roll out of the Framework for implementing the Global Technical Strategy for Malaria that Member States endorsed at RC 66.
The pace of progress must speed up to reach the global target of at least a 40% reduction in malaria cases and deaths by 2020, compared to 2015 levels.
To take us further towards these targets, RBM introduced a new governance structure in 2016 with a new Board; a new CEO was appointed recently, and a new secretariat is currently being set up.
However, at a recent meeting to establish a Regional Coordination Framework for Malaria Elimination, it became clear that most Member States did not fully understand the governance and structures of the new RBM Board and secretariat.
This side event aims to shed light on these issues and the revitalized RBM Partnership, so that we can reach agreement on the mechanisms of interacting with the African RBM Board Members. We will also be updating you on malaria elimination initiatives in the Sahel Countries.
We have made great progress; we must not lose momentum. With all partners united, we can defeat malaria, and improve the health and livelihood of millions of Africans.
Thank you for your attention. I will now hand over to Dr Kesete Admasu, Chief Executive Officer of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership.