World Malaria Day 2008 Events
Read on for a round up of the week's events. Monday April 21 and 22, 2008 International Malaria ConferenceMVI Director, Dr. Christian Loucq was the opening speaker on the second day of an international conference on malaria organized by German member NGOs of Stop Malaria Now! and the European Alliance Against Malaria. The conference, hosted by Deutsche Welle radio in Bonn, Germany, brought together more than 100 people representing the German government, international organizations, European, African, and American NGOs, and businesses engaged in the fight against malaria. Taking as its theme the need to ensure sustained support for malaria programs, the conference included presentations by Mark Grabowski of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM), Awa Coll-Seck of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, and a series of panel presentations on recent progress and future challenges. Dr. Loucq’s presentation, entitled “New Tools and Partnerships for Research and Development,” focused on the need for malaria research and development and for sustained investment in both current and future interventions through 2015 and beyond—2015 being the target date for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. His remarks were well-received, with one of the organizers commenting on his ability to “bring the information as well as the messages across to those who don’t deal all day with research on vaccines.” Six working groups convened on day one and two of the conference to develop recommendations for policymakers. These were brought together in a communiqué that has already been delivered to the German government and shared with civil society organizations meeting in Japan in preparation for this summer’s G8 Summit in Hokkaido. Tuesday April 22, 2008 Congressional Briefing on Malaria-HIV/AIDS Linkages
The panelists covered a range of topics around malaria Tonya did a phenomenal job highlighting her work in HIV/AIDS in Botswana and now in malaria vaccine R&D. She highlighted the role of young researchers and aspiring politicians in attracting new and innovative ideas around malaria R&D as well as supporting policies for malaria vaccine introduction. Download the official press release here. Pictured above L to R: Gene Copello, Chris White, Tonya Villafana, James Sykes. Wednesday April 23, 2008 Toward Eradication—Malaria’s Next FrontiersIn honor of World Malaria Day 2008, the Global Health Council, Johns Hopkins University Voices Project, and PATH programs MACEPA and MVI sponsored a Congressional briefing to showcase the next frontiers in malaria prevention, control and treatment. Moderated by Dr. Roger Glass, Director of the Fogarty International Center at NIH, the panel featured the following speakers: Maurice Middleberg, Vice President for Public Policy, Global Health Council; Dr. Christopher Plowe, Professor and Chief, Malaria Section; Doris Duke, Distinguished Clinical Scientist, Center for Vaccine Development, University of Maryland School of Medicine; Dr. Antoinette Tshefu, Kinshasa School of Public Health, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); Admiral Timothy Ziemer, Coordinator, President's Malaria Initiative The expert panelists discussed both innovations and challenges in some of the field's most pivotal areas, including research and development, strengthening health systems, and tackling high-burden countries. Their discussion highlighted the need for new solutions to reach goal of eradication. A webcast of the panel is available here . THURSDAY April 24, 2008 Youssou N’Dour Concert at the World Bank
In opening remarks, World Bank President, Robert B. Zoellick, highlighted the terrible toll malaria imposes on people and development, making control of the disease central to the Bank’s development agenda. N’Dour then took to the stage and did not miss a beat in driving home the point that “the world has started a war against malaria, a war we can all win.” His upbeat attitude toward achieving that goal led elegantly into the exuberant 50 minute concert that followed. Since 2005, N’Dour has used his melodious voice—through both verse and lobbying—to raise global awareness about the need to defeat the disease. THURSDAY April 24, 2008 Congressional Malaria CaucusApril 24, Marked the launch of the Congressional Malaria Caucus. Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), co-chair of the Caucus, opened the event with remarks, followed by Admiral Ziemer of the President’s Malaria Initiative who introduced the First Lady. Rep. John Boozman (R-AR), the second co-chair of the Caucus, made very brief remarks. The Caucus itself has among its principles, support for investment in new tools to fight malaria, including vaccine development, new medicines and insecticides. Ray Chambers, founder of Malaria No More and newly appointed UN Special Envoy on Malaria, also made remarks. He spoke about the terrible contrast between images of young African children and those of his own grandchildren: the first, lying peacefully in their beds because they were already in comas and close to death, the second sleeping in good health. Other members in attendance were Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and Chris Smith (R-NJ)
Click here to download and read the official press release. Pictured: Melinda Doolittle and Christian Loucq FRIDAY April 25, 2008 World Malaria DayRegional Decision-Making Framework Meeting- Lilongwe, MalawiAlan Brooks, Director of Policy and Access and Vicky Cardenas, Program Officer, facilitated a two-day meeting on the state of malaria vaccine development worldwide. Attendees included representatives from the Ministry of Health (MoH), University of North Carolina (UNC) Project, Centers for Disease Control, USAID, other local organizations and projects. The Deputy Minister of Health gave the opening ceremony speech. The meeting aimed to inform key stakeholders in Malawi about the status of malaria vaccine development—including in Malawi; and review the Regional Decision-Making Framework for malaria vaccines—including identifying the information needs of national decision makers and identifying national processes that can facilitate decision making at the national level. At the close of the meeting, approaches to long-term planning for the possible introduction of a malaria vaccine were laid out. UNC plans to work with the MoH to draft Terms of Reference for a Technical Working Group (TWG) which, through consultation with Sector Wide Approach, the TWG/MoH, will assist to identify invitees towards a first meeting Mobilizing to Save Lives- London, UKThe Mobilizing to Save Lives event was held at the Trade Union Congress (TUC) House in central London. The event was organized by the UK Malaria Consortium, the European Alliance Against Malaria, the Nigerian Organisation of Women and the African Women’s Welfare Association, with the TUC hosting it. Andrew Jack, a journalist with the Financial Times, chaired the meeting and there were five speakers: Steve O’Brien (Shadow Health Minister and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Malaria Group), Martha Osamor (Chair of Nigerian Organisation of Women), Gail Cartmail (Assistant General Secretary of the trade union UNITE and member of TUC General Council), Edwin Nichols (Global Constituency Manager for World Aids Campaign), and Justine Frain (GSK) Ms Frain spoke about the business role in combating malaria—GSK’s malaria vaccine work as well as other companies. MVI Economist, Chris Atim was in attendance and contributed to discussions around the upcoming Phase 3 vaccine trial and eventual availability. The audience showed great interest in the vaccine issues, including concerns about safety during the trials Click here to read the Malaria Consortium's statement on World Malaria Day. |
The first World Malaria Day was preceded by a diversity of events held around the globe, several of which featured MVI staff participants and presenters.
Dr. Tonya Villafana, Director of Portfolio Management joined a panel, which included James Sykes of the AIDS Institute and Chris White of PSI, at a forum on Capitol Hill to discuss the linkages between Malaria and HIV/AIDS. 
Staff from the Malaria Vaccine Initiative joined a packed crowd on April 24 at the World Bank, including African dignitaries, Bank staff, and invited guests from the malaria community, to listen to Senegalese superstar musician Youssou N’Dour commemorate World Malaria Day. 
American Idol winner Melinda Doolittle was also there. Gina Rabinovich and Gabrielle Fitzgerald were there from the Gates Foundation; ExxonMobil was also represented, as were World Vision, Friends of the Global Fight, the Voices project, and many others. PATH was represented by Scott Jackson and Christian Loucq.
