In Kigali, African scientists in search of solutions to eradicate malaria
A baby in Malawi receives an injection of the world's first malaria vaccine as part of a pilot program, December 11, 2019. AP - Jerome Delay
Text by: RFI Follow
4 mins
The 8th annual conference of the Panafrican Mosquito Control Association brings together until Thursday, September 29 in the Rwandan capital some 500 scientists from more than 50 countries on the continent to eradicate malaria, the disease that kills in Africa more than elsewhere.
A conference that comes as calls to mobilize the funding promised by the Global Fund are increasing.
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"
My passion for mosquito research comes from the fact that my country, Kenya, is among the most affected by malaria
", explains to RFI Duncan Kobye Athinya, insect specialist, and participant in the 8th annual conference of the Pan-African vector control association which opened Monday, September 26 in Kigali.
This Kenyan scientist has seen the damage caused by the disease in his home and pleads for more collaboration to end it.
"
We must all work together so that vector-borne diseases, sometimes called the diseases of the poor, are truly eliminated from the African continent
," he said.
“
For example, by ensuring uniform data collection
,” he continues.
Indeed, with better harmonization, data collected in various parts of sub-Saharan Africa can be compared and scenarios created to find the best solutions to eradicate malaria.
»
A technical manager at mosquito net manufacturer Vestergaard, Athinya is nonetheless aware of the challenges.
The Covid-19 pandemic has notably slowed the progress made over the past two decades.
“
It's unlikely that we'll be able to reach the (2030) goal to eradicate malaria, but that doesn't mean nothing has been done.
»
Malaria “
kills a child in the world every minute
”
Only, we must go further.
“
We need platforms.
Like this conference of the Pan-African Vector Control Association.
Most of the countries of the continent are present to share their ideas
”, with the key to the partnerships signed at the end of the summit.
This eighth edition comes a week after the United Nations summit in New York, where the Global Fund raised 14.2 billion dollars to fight against this pandemic but also against tuberculosis and AIDS.
This is four billion less than expected, according to the spokesperson for the NGO Speak Up Africa, Maelle Ba.
“
It is true that we were waiting for the 18 billion dollars to be mobilized.
Unfortunately, they were not
,” she reacted.
In a column published on Friday, his advocacy organization present in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal, challenged leaders in New York to ask them to redouble their efforts to end malaria which, according to Maelle Ba , “
kills a child in the world every minute
”, 96% of them being in Africa.
"
Our leaders in Africa must prioritize this disease, we expect more investment at the African level in the fight against malaria
," she told RFI.
If civil society expects more investment, researchers like Duncan Kobye Athinya want more collaboration.
Lack of coordination behind the return of Ebola?
But there is a problem.
Different African countries are still struggling to share their knowledge to tackle health issues.
According to a report by Thomson Reuters, of the six top performers in research, none had an African country among its main partners.
A lack of coordination that some point to as being responsible for the outbreak of Ebola cases in Uganda.
Even if for Athinya it is not so simple: “
The transmission of this type of disease follows very complex patterns that people could not understand.
»
The 2014-15 Ebola outbreak caused an estimated loss of more than $2 billion to the already hard-hit economies of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Some observers believe that the crisis could have been avoided if the data had been shared.
"
Let's not play the dangerous blame game when there is an epidemic,
" said Athinya.
"
Let's continue to be responsible and do our best.
»
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Also to listen: Malaria: towards a vaccine?
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