Rwanda will host the 8th Pan-African Malaria Conference (PAMC) from April 21-27, 2024, as the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM Society). The theme of the conference is “Grassroots Mobilization to End Malaria: Invest, Innovate & Integrate.”
The conference coincides with World Malaria Day on April 25th.
This significant event is expected to attract global experts, scientists, and policy makers, who will shed light on the importance of innovative approaches and investments in combating malaria in Africa.
The 8th Pan-African Malaria Conference emphasizes the critical need for innovative solutions in the fight against malaria.
In Rwanda, grassroots mobilization has emerged as a powerful force. Community engagement plays a pivotal role, with active participation in surveillance, reporting, prevention, and treatment efforts. Notably, Community Health Workers, known as “Abajyanama b’Ubuzima,” have been instrumental in diagnosing and treating 60% of all recorded malaria cases in 2023.
These effective measures have significantly reduced the malaria burden in Rwanda.
According to the Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) Malaria Annual Report 2022/23, the annual malaria incidence has dropped from 409 cases per 1000 people in 2016/17 to just 47 cases per 1000 in 2022/23.
During the same period, malaria cases decreased from nearly 5 million to only 600,000 cases.
Additionally, malaria-related deaths have seen a significant decline of over 89%.
The WHO World Malaria Report 2023 also recognizes Rwanda as one of the five African countries making commendable progress towards meeting the Global Technical Strategy (GTS) target for 2025.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), malaria remains one of the deadliest diseases globally. In 2022, approximately 249 million cases were recorded, surpassing pre-COVID-19 estimates by an additional five million.