AMANET to host the MIM Secretariat.
The African Malaria Network Trust
(AMANET), a pan African not for profit organization
whose Secretariat is based in Dar es salaam, Tanzania,
has been elected to host the next Multilateral
Initiative on Malaria in Africa (MIM) Secretariat for
the period 2006 - 2010. The Secretariat, which is
currently hosted by Stockholm University and
Karolinska Institutet in Sweden since January 2003,
will now be placed at the AMANET Secretariat in Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania.
Announcing the results on May 24, 2005, the current
MIM Secretariat Coordinator Dr Andreas Heddini said
that transfer of the MIM Secretariat will take place
shortly after the Fourth MIM Pan-African Malaria
Conference, which will be held 13-18 November 2005 in
Yaoundé, Cameroon.. AMANET, as the new Secretariat,
will officially assume its role from January 2006.
This will be the first time an African institution
hosts the alliance Secretariat, which, since inception
has been hosted on a rotational basis by the Wellcome
Trust (1997-1999), in the United Kingdom, and the
Fogarty International Centre (FIC) of the National
Institutes of Health (1999-2002), in the United States
of America. The current AMANET Network Director,
Professor Charles S. Mgone will head the new MIM
Secretariat as Director and will be assisted by a
Coordinator and an Information Technology Officer yet
to be appointed. Initially, the Secretariat was being
hosted for a duration of three years. The mandate
period has been extended to a period of five years
following recommendations of the external review that
MIM underwent in 2002 and by input from the MIM
Strategic Advisory Board.
MIM is an international alliance of organizations and
individuals concerned with malaria, and seek to
maximize the impact of scientific research on malaria
in Africa, through promoting capacity building and
facilitating global collaboration and coordination.
The alliance was launched in 1997 at the First MIM
Pan-African Malaria Conference in Dakar, Senegal.
Following the founding conference, The Special
Programme for Research and Training in Tropical
Diseases (TDR) was charged with the task of bringing
together stakeholders with an interest in supporting
capacity building research. In the USA, MIMCom (MIM
Communications) and MR4 (Malaria Research and
Reference Reagent Resource Centre) evolved as
constituents of the initiative to address other
specific needs. MIMCom, created by the National
Library of Medicine at the US-NIH in partnership with
institutions in Africa, USA and Europe, is an
electronic malaria research network which has promoted
electronic connectivity and therefore enhanced
communication and collaboration between malaria
researchers; by installing communication equipment
MIMCom has facilitated scientific literature searches
across Africa especially at remote research
institutions. MR4 on the other hand has been in the
forefront of provision of laboratory reagents,
exchanging research materials and conducting training
in molecular biology and Good Laboratory Practice. The
MIM Secretariat maintains cohesion and ensures good
communication between all constituents of the
initiative. The Secretariat also organizes the
biannual Pan African Malaria Conference as well as
periodic courses, symposia, stakeholders’ meetings and
workshops.
At the first meeting, it was agreed that the
Secretariat should rotate in order to maintain the
multilateral and international participation. As the
mandate for the current Secretariat comes to term this
November, a fair and transparent transfer mechanism
for a successor was employed. A call for applications
was released. Having reviewed the functions and
activities of the MIM Secretariat, AMANET decided that
it has adequate infrastructure, institutional
organization, skills and personnel to effectively run
the Secretariat for the next five-year period.
A large group of eligible voting representatives
composed of MIM’s major partners, including the World
Health Organization, the US National Institute for
Allerge and Infectious Diseases, Roll Back Malaria
Partnership, Government agencies, scientific
institutions in Europe, The Americas and Africa, and
several malaria organizations were invited to vote.
These voting members were identified based on their
significant and direct involvement with one or several
of the MIM alliance constituents. The result of the
vote declared AMANET as the next host of the MIM
Secretariat.
The mission of AMANET is to promote capacity
strengthening and networking of malaria research and
development (R&D) in Africa. Since its inception
several years ago, AMANET has advanced essential human
capacity for undertaking research and development of
new malaria interventions, particularly malaria
vaccines across Africa. Over 500 researchers across
sub-Saharan Africa have participated in short-term
AMANET training workshops in such important areas as
bioethics, good clinical practice, good laboratory
practices, design and methodology of intervention
trials, data management in intervention trials,
molecular biology and immunology of malaria vaccine
development, malaria vaccinology, management and
leadership of malaria research institutions,
accounting for research funds and strengthening of
principal investigators. According to a 2004
international appraisal, the training workshops
organized by AMANET are highly valued by the
participants and other stakeholders. AMANET has
consistently published a biannual newsletter which is
now at its sixteenth edition targeting malaria
stakeholders. The AMANET website www.amanet-trust.org
is also actively maintained with many links to other
malaria related sites
AMANET has been in the forefront of major
institutional capacity strengthening. Institutions
identified for AMANET strengthening besides being
prioritised in short-term training in workshops, they
receive capacity strengthening grants, which cover
long-term professional training, provide essential
equipment, upgrade infrastructure and support site
characterisation. Institutions benefiting from AMANET
capacity strengthening grants include the Centre
National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme
(CNRFP) in Burkina Faso, the Amani Medical Research
Centre in Tanzania, and the Tropical Diseases Research
Centre in Ndola, Zambia. Moreover AMANET sponsors the
clinical trials aimed at development of malaria
vaccines, currently AMANET is funding a malaria
vaccine trial in Burkina Faso; other institutions
recently selected for developing malaria vaccines
under AMANET sponsorship are in Gabon, Mali and Ghana.
On behalf of the AMANET Secretariat I wish to thank
all MIM stakeholders on the trust they have in the
AMANET Secretariat. As much as we are excited by the
election, we are very much aware of the enormous
challenge ahead; the AMANET Secretariat will do
everything to make sure that the MIM Secretariat has a
good start, and carries on the good work of our
predecessors. We will of course need the continued
support of all the MIM stakeholders and all those of
good will.
Prof.
Wen L. Kilama
Managing Trustee
AMANET
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