Annual inter country malaria review and planning conferences have shown to be effective in sharing best practices and peer review mechanisms among countries. The World Health Organization Inter Country Support Team on Malaria for East and Southern Africa will be organizing such a meeting from the 14th to the 18th of August 2006. The meeting will take place in Harare, Zimbabwe.

The meeting will bring together national malaria control programmes from Botswana, Comoros, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, The United Republic of Tanzania (Mainland and Zanzibar), Zambia and Zimbabwe. Also participating in the meeting will be partners and multilateral agencies supporting malaria control. Representatives from WHO, UNICEF, the African Union regional economic community health desks, malaria research institutions, private sector, non governmental organizations (NGOs) and other stakeholders will participate in the meeting.

The main goal of the Annual Malaria Review and Planning Conference is to provide a forum for reviewing, sharing experiences, and planning interventions to accelerate access to malaria prevention and treatment towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The theme for this year's malaria conference is "East and Southern Africa - Accelerating Malaria Prevention and Treatment".

The specific objectives of the conference will be: 
1) To review country progress, performance and challenges in implementing the 2005-06 country malaria control plans;
2) To update country drug policy profiles and implementation of drug and malaria in pregnancy policies in East and Southern Africa;
3) To appraise the implementation of IRS and ITN programmes towards improving community access to the interventions; 
4) To finalize and identify strategies for accelerating malaria prevention and treatment in the 2006-2007 country action plans.

Remember:
1) Malaria is preventable and curable
2) Seek treatment early if you suspect malaria
3) Use a treated net or indoor residual spraying as appropriate to prevent malaria.

East and Southern Africa - Accelerating Malaria Prevention and Treatment