Roll Back Malaria’s Progress and Impact Series highlights APMEN

Just weeks after the landmark announcement to eliminate malaria in the Asia Pacific by 2030 (link is external), Roll Back Malaria launched its new Progress and Impact Series report, The Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN): Supporting the common goal of a malaria-free Asia Pacific (link is external). The report highlights the leadership and local ownership needed to achieve such ambitious elimination targets and underscores how the APMEN network model complements existing efforts such as the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (link is external) (APLMA).

The report provides testimony to the critical role played by the regional network as a community of practice to accelerate the elimination agenda in the Asia-Pacific through its core functions: exchanging knowledge, facilitating partnerships, building capacity, creating an evidence base, and advocating for greater political commitment and sustainable funding.

In related news, APMEN’s Joint-Secretariat Co-coordinator, Professor Maxine Whittaker, was featured on ABC Radio Australia (link is external) to highlight the progress and challenges faced when eliminating malaria in the Western Pacific. The Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have been quite successful in decreasing malaria cases, but other islands, such as Papua New Guinea, will require greater efforts to drive the malaria burden down. Many of the lessons and tools from more successful islands in the Western Pacific can be extended to islands that are struggling to eliminate malaria. However, evidence from the WHO’s World Malaria Report 2014 (link is external) shows a decline in funding to the region, which may prove to be the biggest challenge in eliminating malaria.