By Etienne Mainimo Mengnjo
The U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator, Dr. David Walton, has underscored the U.S. Government’s continued support in the fight against malaria.
The U.S. Government’s continued support in the fight against malaria was emphasized during an official visit made by Dr. Walton to Cameroon from March 5 to 14.
Besides underscoring the U.S. Government’s continued support in the fight against malaria, Dr. Walton also gained a deeper understanding of Cameroon’s efforts to end malaria.
The U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator was joined on his visit by Dr. Meera Venkatesan, Agency Lead for the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
During his ten-day stay in Cameroon, Dr. Walton held strategic meetings with government officials, the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP), and visited health facilities to observe the malaria vaccination process.
Dr. Walton met with the Prime Minister, Joseph Dion Ngute, and the Minister of External Relations, H.E. Mbela Mbela LeJeune. He attended high-level meetings with the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and Ministers of Health from “High Burden to High Impact” countries, representing the countries with the highest malaria burden committed to reducing that burden through an intensified approach.
These meetings introduced the malaria vaccine and included the 25th convening of the WHO Malaria Policy Advisory Group (MPAG) and the malaria vaccine’s introduction. In addition to meeting with the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) and PMI-funded partners, he also met with the Executive Board of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) to discuss cross-sector health programs related to malaria.
To better understand Cameroon’s research capacities, Dr. Walton visited the Center for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID), which conducts cutting-edge entomological research on vector-borne diseases like malaria. He also participated in a meeting with the Parliamentary Health Caucus to discuss domestic resource mobilization efforts in the fight against malaria.
Among other activities, he launched the System to End the Malaria Burden Through Meaningful Engagement (SEMBE I) project with the participation of Minister of Public Health Dr. Manaouda Malachie, malaria partners, and local associations. SEMBE I is a CFA 18 billion (USD $30 million) project funded by PMI and implemented by the Association Camerounaise pour le Marketing Social (ACMS).
This project aims to reduce malaria-related morbidity and mortality by enhancing the capacity of the National Malaria Control Program and other local entities to lead the prevention, control, and elimination of malaria in the Far North Region of Cameroon.
In the Far North Region, he met with Governor Midjiyawa Bakary, and together with Dr. Manaouda Malachie, Dr. Walton visited the Mokolo integrated health center and immunization unit, where the new malaria vaccine is now part of the routine immunization package in Cameroon for children aged six months.
Dr. Walton expressed hope that the new malaria vaccine, made available to Cameroon with support from the U.S. government, would help eradicate malaria and provide children with a better chance at a malaria-free life.
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