Arusha, 19 November -- Tanzania's Prime Minister, Frederick Sumaye, on Tuesday called for increased government-private sector cooperation in malaria control in Africa. 
Officiallly opening the Third Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Pan-African Conference in Arusha, Mr Sumaye said African governments alone could not control the scourge of malaria on the continent.

"I would want to stress that governments cannot work alone. We therefore need better working relations between the private and the public sectors,"he said. "We must join our efforts together to make it possible for the poor to access and get the needed medical services for prevention and treatment of malaria."

Mr Sumaye told the conference attended by eminent scientists and dignitaries including the World Health Organization's Regional Director for Africa, Dr Ebrahim Samba, that African governments remained committed to halving the burden of malaria in Africa by 2010, as pledged in the Abuja (Nigeria) Declaration of 25 April 2000.

African governments, he said, were also committed to ensuring the use of new sources of funding, including the Global Fund to Fight Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and Malaria, for effective malaria control.

Malaria, Mr Sumuye said, remained a major developmental issue that African governments had to face. "The economic impact of malaria in Africa is substantial and despite success in controlling malaria in the 1950s and 1960s, recent years have seen a resurgence due to a combination of factors," he said. "The Governments of Africa have recognised the challenge ahead of us and we have committed ourselves to providing our experts with all the necessary support to realise the ambitious goal of halving malaria related deaths by 2010."

Mr Sumaye urged MIM to not only accelerate the capacity building process for malaria research and control in Africa but to also put pressure on concerned quarters to ensure the utilization of research findings.

The week-long MIM conference, which closes on Friday, has brought together some 1200 delegates involved in malaria research and control all over the world.

The conference is designed facilitate the communication of scientific findings, capacity building and training, strengthen regional and pan-African malaria research and control networks, promote scientific partnerships across Africa and internationally, and also report on progress of MIM activities. Key on the agenda are sessions on mechanisms for linking scientific research and malaria control activities.

For further information, please contact Daniel M S Sibongo 
Communications and Advocacy Officer
Malaria Control Unit
World Health Organization - Regional Office for Africa 
P.O. Box 6 Brazzaville, Congo. 
E-mail: danielsibongo [at] hotmail.com (danielsibongo[at]hotmail[dot]com)