On the 28th and 29th of April 2025, the Coalition of Parliamentarians Engaged to End Malaria in Africa (COPEMA), in collaboration with its secretariat, Impact Santé Afrique, and its strategic partners, the National Malaria Program of Ghana, Afrika Kwanza Health Impact, Hope for Future Generations, Global Fund, AFRICA CDC, WHO, the Pan African Parliament, and RBM Partnership to End Malaria, held its first Regional Strategic Meeting and Launch in Accra, Ghana. Over 50 stakeholders attended the meeting, marking a key moment for COPEMA in solidifying its foundation and outlining its 2025-2027 Action Plan.
Honorable Juliette Zingan, COPEMA Member, Senegal.
The Civil Society Organizations set the ball rolling with a call to African leaders and policymakers to include local communities in the decision-making process to ensure that their voices and priorities influence the fight against malaria and that they have access to malaria control interventions. The representative stressed:
“It is time for our collective action as one world, one fight, and more now than ever.”
A Memorial Tribute was paid to the Honorable Dr. Faustine Ndugulile from Tanzania, a Founding Member of COPEMA. His unwavering support for the fight against malaria on the continent was celebrated, and all participants observed a minute of silence in his honour while a candle was lit in his memory.
A presentation by AFRICA CDC revealed that even though all African countries pledged, per the Abuja meeting, to allocate 15% of their budget to the health sector, only two of them, namely Rwanda and Botswana, have honoured their commitment. On average, 7% of the national budget of other countries has been allocated to the health sector. Moreover, only 16 member states (29%) have a National Health Development Plan and National Health Financing Plan. It was therefore recommended that countries move to implement the commitments made.
A message from the parliamentarians was delivered to urge parliamentarians to ensure that COPEMA is officially recognised as a collaborative body and that its role in the fight against malaria is advocated for. Unity of purpose, he said, is of the utmost importance, especially with the civil society. All parliamentarians suggested and adopted the drafting of a common statement for African governments.
A report presented by the World Health Organization (WHO) painted a grim situation in which malaria remains a serious global health challenge as it claimed 600,000 lives in 2023 alone, despite some notable progress in reducing cases in some high-burden countries, mainly in Africa, where two-thirds of the global malaria burden is concentrated in 11 countries. The Organisation, therefore, recommended, among other measures, that political leaders take urgent and accelerated action to enlist effective and coordinated support from international partners.
RBM Partnership to End Malaria began their presentation on The Big Push Against Malaria with the quote, ” The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result”, stressing that this is the time to move from the rhetoric of the Abuja and Yaoundé Declarations to concrete actions, actions that convey the meaning of collaboration, transformation, integration, networking and accountability. Discussions following this presentation recommended that local communities be involved through strategic local resource mobilisation and that cross-border cooperation be stepped up.
Panel Discussion moderated by Dr Corine Karema
A panel of National Malaria Programs Managers shared their views on what is done locally in their respective countries, their challenges, and how they overcome them. Their interactions with the audience yielded the following recommendations, among others:
- Intersectoral collaboration, which could be achieved through the creation of joint committees, is needed across agriculture, education, the environment, local government, and infrastructure in the fight against malaria.
- Policymakers should lobby for a greater share of the national budget for the health sector, especially the malaria fight.
- Given the complex global financial situation, new internal funding mobilisation opportunities must be explored (USAID withdrawal and others )
- In addition to Parliamentarians, representatives of the Executive branches (i.e., the Chief of Staff Office) should be present at these meetings to ensure the decisions are followed up with concrete actions.
A presentation by the Global Fund on its 8th replenishment investment and the role of African countries shed light on the work done by the Organization over the past two decades to save 65 million lives and reduce the combined death rate from HIV, Tuberculosis and malaria by 63%. The target for the 8th Replenishment was set at US$18 billion to fight these three diseases and save 23 million lives.
In his talk on why 2025 is a key year, the Executive Director of the Global Fund stressed the need for the support of African leaders in deciding which programmes should be prioritised since the continent accounts for three-quarters of the funds disbursed by the Organization. With 95% of global malaria deaths worldwide, Africa bears the brunt of the malaria burden, and therefore, there is a need to continue investing in disease surveillance, community health workers and improved logistics.
Honorable Dr. NGOKO and Honorable NJUME from Cameroon.
The Serum Institute India, manufacturer of the R21 malaria vaccine, presented its work and informed all present that Ghana was the first country to provide regulatory approval to its vaccine, which meets the WHO-specified efficacy goal of 75% and offers an extraordinary opportunity to make progress in the fight against malaria. A lively discussion followed this presentation, during which appeals were made to initiate cooperation between African researchers and their Indian counterparts to facilitate the establishment of drug manufacturing units on the continent. It was also recommended that members of parliament be involved when initiating vaccine clinical trials to encourage the community buy-in process.
A presentation on the Malaria situation in Africa: What parliamentarians should know was made by an OCEAC malaria expert who recommended that actions be taken to sensitise on best practices (hygiene and sanitation; case management), educate schools and the communities on mosquitoes, hygiene and sanitation, and support vector control activities through the mobilisation of funding and participation in vector control activities.
The COPEMA Action Plan for 2025-2027 was presented and approved, and included the following key actions:
- Addressing the urgent global health challenges of malaria and exploring collaborative approaches to generate the political will needed to boost health investments across Africa.
- Ensuring the fully funded Eighth Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
- Playing a pivotal role in advocating for increased domestic resource mobilisation and ensuring that African governments remain committed to tackling malaria and strengthening health systems
- Mobilising parliamentarians (members of health committees and other committees) to join and launch COPEMA at the country level or join existing malaria and health financing caucuses.
Honorable Santa Okot, Uganda.
In the end, the Coalition of Parliamentarians to End Malaria in Africa (COPEMA) was officially launched, and a Declaration – The Accra Parliamentarian Declaration on Malaria on World Malaria Day, April 2025 and the official Launch of COPEMA – was read. The Declaration stressed the need for bold and united action at local, national and international levels in the fight against malaria. It reiterated the unwavering commitment of parliamentarians and members of COPEMA, one year after the Regional Africa Yaoundé Declaration, to support the countries’ mission to end malaria by mobilising additional domestic resources, fostering a robust multisectoral approach, advocating for increased national health budgets, driving and overseeing malaria policies implementation, creating an ecosystem that encourages private sector engagement, collaborating closely with National Malaria Control Programs and raising awareness among peers and constituents.
The meeting ended with announcing the appointment of a COPEMA co-chair from Uganda, who summed up the spirit of the two-day gathering with the words ‘Together, We shall succeed’.
