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Prime Minister Hon. Manasseh Sogavare and his delegation met with the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA) secretariat at a briefing meeting, hosted by APLMA on 3 Octoberin Singapore, to accelerate and reaffirm commitments to achieving malariaelimination by 2030. During the meeting, both parties discussed the current situationof malaria in the Asia Pacific and in Solomon Islands as well as efforts requiredto safeguard the lives of people in Solomon Islands and Melanesia.
Over the past 20 years Solomon Islands has madesignificant efforts to reduce malaria cases by half, with the help ofmosquito-control efforts, as well as improved diagnostics and treatment.Despite major progress following reorganisations and fresh funding of itsmalaria programme, there has been a resurgence of the disease since 2015.
Today, the malaria burden nationally remainshigh, with 77,637 cases reported in 2020 alone. While deaths from malaria havefallen in recent years, with only 3 malaria deaths reported in 2020, the AnnualParasite Incidence (API) for Solomon Islands remains the highest in the AsiaPacific region.
Back row: APLMA CEO Dr. Sarthak Das, Board Member Ruby Shang, SPM Dr. Jimmie Rodgers. Front row: PM and Madam Sogavare.
Prime MinisterSogavare in his keynote remarks highlighted the importance and urgency to bringmalaria control back on track in Solomon Islands. He outlined his government’scommitments to control and ultimately eliminate malaria from Solomon Islands.He committed to engage at the Leader’s level with the Prime Ministers of PapuaNew Guinea and Vanuatu to ‘re-invigorate the development and implementation of an MSG sub-regionalstrategy to eliminate malaria from the Melanesian sub-region’. He further highlighted the upcoming Pacific games in November 2023 as an importantcatalyst to drive national efforts to control and eliminate malaria fromHoniara in the leadup to the games.
The Prime Minister statedthat we will ‘reviewour Malaria Elimination Roadmap’ and refresh our strategies to achieve thatpurpose. We will ‘re-zone our provinces into phases for elimination targets’and develop and implement control and elimination strategies accordingly’
Dr Sarthak Das, CEO of APLMA said, “APLMA isoptimistic that the Solomon Islands will get back on track. We remain committedto facilitate collaboration while marshalling theneeded technical and financial resources between governments, national malariacontrol programs and a range of international partners to end malaria inAsia-Pacific by 2030.”
PM Sogavare presenting a shell money gift to CEO Dr Sarthak Das.
APLMA has had a longstanding relationship withthe Solomon Islands. Prime Minister Sogavare joined with 22 otherheads of government in 2015 to commit to the goal of eliminating malaria acrossAsia Pacific by 2030. This goal was first agreed to at the 9th EAS,following which APLMA has been building on the momentum of support at thecountry and regional levels through advocacy, policy, and resource mobilisation.
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For any questions or queries contact:
GCI Health: Rachael Teo, rachael.teo@gcihealth.com
APLMA: Dimple Natali, dnatali@aplma.org
AboutAPLMA
APLMA is an affiliation of Asia and Pacificheads of government, formed to accelerate progress against malaria and toeliminate it in the region by 2030. APLMA was created by the East Asian Summit(EAS) leaders in 2013 to further strengthen anti-malaria efforts, both to helpprotect hard-won national gains and, ultimately, to defeat malaria in theregion altogether. To guide this work, the Asia Pacific Leaders’ EliminationRoadmap sets out the strategic priorities for achieving the 2030 goal.
For more information, please visit: https://www.aplma.org/
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