MARC SE-Africa joins the RBM Case Management Working Group Meeting in Ghana
Attendees at the RBM Case Management Working Group Meeting
Accra, Ghana
August 22-25, 2023 - The RBM Partnership To End Malaria. Case Management Working Group held its 12th annual meeting in Accra, Ghana from 22 to 25 August 2023. It brought together National Malaria Programme (NMP) representatives and their partners from across the region to provide updates on state of the art and hot topics in malaria case management and to share experiences and evidence on best practices for improving malaria case management. NMPs from nine of the endemic countries in Southern and East Africa participated in this meeting, where MARC SE-Africa was represented by Donnie Mategula (Malawi) and Karen Barnes (Coordinator). Partner institutions represented included WHO, USAID/PMI, JHPIEGO, MSH, Malaria Consortium, Global Fund, Novartis and MMV.
Day 1 included a discussion of the status of antimalarial drug resistance globally, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and a panel discussion on country experiences with responding to drug resistance in Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya. Drug resistance came up again and again throughout the meeting, including in discussions on pre-referral treatment with rectal artesunate and malaria chemoprevention.
The meeting concluded with a commitment that the RBM case management working group would remain active throughout the year, and would create opportunities for closer connections with other RBM working groups including the Malaria in Pregnancy working group, the Surveillance, Monitoring and Evaluation working Group and the Social and Behaviour Change Working Group.
Our consortium further benefits from the co-chair of the RBM Case Management working group, Dr Noella Umulisa (JHPIEGO, Rwanda) being a member of the MARC SE-Africa External Technical Advisory Committee. This committee is the consortium’s main oversight body, providing scientific and technical governance, facilitates coordination (maximizing synergies and minimizing duplication) as well as guiding implementation activities for impact.
MARC SE-Africa coordinator, Karen Barnes, with Dr. Keziah Malm, who leads Ghana’s National Malaria Elimination Programme.
