The fight against malaria is at a critical turning point. For decades, artemisinin-based therapies and their combinations have helped save millions of lives across Africa. However, this achievement can no longer be taken for granted. Early signs of resistance, already confirmed in East Africa, are now advancing toward West and Central Africa. In response, the #ProtectTheCure campaign has, in recent months, created multiple platforms for dialogue with National Malaria Control Programmes (NMCPs), technical partners, scientists, and policymakers. Beyond the discussions themselves, it is the recommendations emerging from these engagements that are now shaping a collective roadmap for protecting the treatments we still have.
Anticipating Rather Than Reacting
One message clearly emerged from both Accra and Dakar: we can no longer afford to wait until resistance becomes widespread before taking action. NMCPs from West and Central Africa, gathered in Dakar alongside the Country and Regional Support Partners Committee (CRSPC) meeting, emphasized the need for proactive monitoring of treatment efficacy and systematic data sharing between countries. The same call for vigilance was echoed in Accra, where experts urged stronger early detection systems for resistance markers—an essential condition for adapting treatment policies before it is too late.
A Response That Must Be Regional
Another key lesson is that antimalarial drug resistance does not respect borders. Recommendations from both meetings highlight the urgent need for a coordinated regional response. In Dakar, participants advocated for strengthening a regional NMCP network capable of ensuring a harmonized response to the threat. This aligns closely with the calls made in Accra for greater coordination among neighboring countries, given how quickly early warning signs detected in one area can spread beyond national boundaries.
Engaging Communities and Frontline Actors
The recommendations also converge on a point that is often underestimated: the battle against resistance is fought closest to communities. In Dakar, as well as during discussions with Senegal’s NMCP, stakeholders stressed the importance of integrating key messages on drug resistance into training materials for community health workers and addressing risky practices such as self-medication and poor treatment adherence. Community engagement is no longer viewed as a complementary option, but rather as a central pillar of the next phase of the campaign.
Advocacy: An Essential Link in the Chain
As funding for malaria control continues to decline, recommendations from Dakar call for stronger national-level advocacy to keep antimalarial resistance high on political agendas. This echoes the conclusions reached in Accra, where parliamentarians, through the Coalition of Parliamentarians to End Malaria in Africa (COPEMA), were encouraged to play an active role in pharmacovigilance, public awareness, and resource mobilization.
Adapting Tools to Local Realities
Several practical recommendations also emerged from discussions with Senegal’s NMCP, including improving the French subtitles of the Protect the Cure documentary and expanding resistance surveillance sites. These adjustments serve as an important reminder: for information to flow effectively throughout health systems, communication tools must be designed and adapted to the specific context of each country.
What Comes Next?
The recommendations gathered in Accra and Dakar are more than meeting summaries they represent a shared framework for the next phase of the #ProtectTheCure campaign. Their implementation, driven jointly by national programmes, technical partners, scientists and civil society organizations, will determine our collective ability to preserve the effectiveness of antimalarial treatments in the years ahead.
Explore the full set of recommendations here: Strategic-Recommendations-to-Strengthen-the-Fight-Against-Antimalarial-Drug-Resistance.pdf
