Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Secretariat Receives US$500,000 Grant from the Gates Foundation to Support the Next MIM Pan-African Malaria Conference
Press Release
Dar es salaam, 28 November 2008
The Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Secretariat has received a US$500,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the Fifth MIM Pan-African Malaria Conference. The MIM Secretariat, currently being hosted for the first time in Africa by the African Malaria Network Trust (AMANET), will use the grant to plan and organize the upcoming Pan-African Malaria Conference to be held 2 through 6 November 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya.
MIM Conferences are currently the largest meetings worldwide devoted entirely to malaria research and control in Africa. They provide a unique forum for the malaria community —including junior scientists, senior researchers and malaria control stakeholders — to discuss recent findings, identify priority research areas, articulate operational problems, and translate available research results into policy and operational guidelines.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam, MIM Secretariat Coordinator, Professor Francine Ntoumi said, “We are very grateful to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their support for MIM Conferences, which disseminate new knowledge and promote networking among and between malaria researchers and malaria control programs in Africa and the global malaria community.”
“This grant will facilitate sharing and exchanges of recent advances in malaria research in Africa, showcasing achievements made by African researchers and partners who are working hard to find affordable and lasting solutions against a disease that continues to maim Africa,” said Professor Wen Kilama, AMANET Managing Trustee.
The first MIM Conference was held in 1997 in Dakar, Senegal, the second in Durban, South Africa, in 1999, the third in Arusha, Tanzania, in 2002, and the latest in Yaoundé, Cameroon, in 2005. Under the theme “building knowledge for action”, the upcoming Nairobi conference is being co-organized by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and will focus on relevant research that can be translated into new products, strategies, methods and policies appropriate to real-life situations in malaria-endemic countries.
Findings from recent studies on malaria parasite and vector biology and control, antimalaria drugs, malaria vaccine candidates, immunology, epidemiology, malaria treatment and control, research capacity and health research ethics will be presented and discussed. It is hoped that important new information will be identified to articulate emerging challenges, gaps in knowledge and promising novel approaches to address the malaria challenge in Africa.
“By bringing together a diverse range of researchers, public health officials and other partners, the MIM Conference enhances collaboration and accelerate progress toward the long term goal of malaria eradication,” said Dr Regina Rabinovich, Director of Infectious Disease Development at the Gates Foundation. “We hope our support for the MIM Conference will encourage other funders to invest in this critical meeting.”
MIM is a global alliance of individuals, funding partners and four autonomous constituents comprising the MIM Secretariat, MIM at WHO/TDR (MIM/TDR), MIM Communications (MIMCom) and Malaria Research Reference Reagent Resource Center (MR4). MIM’s mission is to facilitate African participation in the development of effective control tools and to build and sustain malaria research capacity among malaria endemic counties Africa. Since January 2006, the Secretariat is being hosted for the first time in Africa by AMANET, a pan-African, not-for-profit organization promoting malaria R&D in Africa.
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For further information contact:
Dr Charles Wanga
Communications Officer
Multilateral Initiative on Malaria
Hosted by African Malaria Network Trust
PO Box 33207, Dar es salaam, Tanzania
Tel: +255 22 2700018 Fax: +255 22 2700380 Mobile:
Email: clwanga@amanet-trust.org
www.mimalaria.org
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