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The Coalition of Parliamentarians to End Malaria in Africa (COPEMA) has been launched in Accra to mark a crucial step in the Continent’s fight against the disease.
COPEMA, made up of parliamentarians from the 11 High Burden High Impact (HBHI) countries, seeks to strengthen collaboration between policymakers and national malaria control programmes, while informing and equipping parliamentarians for effective malaria advocacy.
It also aims to validate and strengthen COPEMA’s structure and strategic plan as well as use the platform for malaria prevention. According to the World Health Organisation’s Malaria Report 2024, Africa accounts for 94 per cent of global malaria cases and 95 per cent of deaths, with 600,000 fatalities recorded in 2023 alone.
The disease disproportionately affects children under five and pregnant women, despite decades of progress. Dr Micheal Adekunle, the Chief Executive Officer, RBM Partnership to End Malaria, speaking at the opening of the two-day Regional Strategic meeting and launch, emphasised the devastating impact of malaria on the populace, making it a public health threat.
He said parliamentarians had a significant role to play in continuing to hold governments accountable and ensure that adequate resources were given towards health and specifically towards the fight against malaria. Dr Adekunle revealed that reducing the malaria burden by 90 per cent by 2030 could increase the African continent’s gross domestic product by 127 billion US dollars, positioning the fight against the disease as an investment with substantial returns.
Achieving malaria elimination across the continent, however, requires sustained political will and coordinated action across national and regional levels, hence COPEMA. He said COPEMA would, therefore, address the communication gaps in the understanding of malaria issues among politicians, encouraging them to view the fight against the disease beyond a purely health perspective.
“We need to see malaria fight as a cross-cutting whole of society, whole of government approach, highlighting issues such as open gutters with stagnant water serving as breeding sites for mosquitoes,” Dr Adekunle said. He encouraged parliamentarians to exhibit their advocacy and leadership roles to ensure resources were mobilised towards malaria elimination on the continent.
Dr Mark Nawaane, the Chairman of Ghana’s Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, called on his colleague lawmakers to embrace their responsibility beyond legislation, focusing on mobilising domestic resources and ensuring malaria remained a national priority. “Let us envision an Africa where no child ever dies from a mosquito bite. That future is within our reach,” he added.
Ms Santa Okot, the Member of COPEMA Uganda, speaking on the objectives of the meeting, said the recent disruptions in international malaria programmes had left millions vulnerable, with projections estimating 1.8 million malaria deaths in 2025 if urgent action were not taken. She said Africa thus needed greater political will and leadership for malaria elimination, increased domestic financing, improved policy alignment with technical realities, and a more coordinated approach to malaria control.
“To achieve this, there is the need for parliamentarians to send a strong, convincing message to their heads-of-state to understand that malaria is the most killer disease in the country and Africa at large,” Ms OKOT said. “If COPEMA does not come together and write to the heads of states of those with a high burden to see that this is important, it may not work. We shall sit in different conferences and meetings, but it will not work.”
Ms Okot called for a multisectoral approach where every Ministry had money allocated for malaria. The HBHI countries include Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Uganda.
The two-day Regional Strategic Meeting and Launch, which began on Monday, brought together parliamentarians, National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) managers, and technical experts from across Africa to align strategies and strengthen domestic financing for malaria elimination efforts.
The event is being held in collaboration with strategic partners including the National Malaria Programmes of Ghana, Afrika Kwanza Health Impact, Hope for Future Generations, Global Fund, Africa CDC, WHO, the Pan African Parliament, and the RBM Partnership to End Malaria.
Source: GNA
