Health leaders from malaria-endemic African countries and global partners called today for intensified action to counter antimalarial drug resistance – a growing challenge that threatens to undermine hard-won progress against one of Africa’s deadliest diseases.

Meeting on the margins of the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly, the high-level gathering turned a spotlight on the urgent need for coordinated action to contain the spread of resistance to frontline malaria medicines.

 “Antimalarial drug resistance is a threat to every community on this continent, noted Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, Minister of Health of Rwanda. “It demands a shared response, rooted in science, solidarity and speed.”

Led by the Government of Rwanda, the side event brought together a powerful coalition of co-hosts, including Eritrea, Ethiopia, Namibia, South Sudan, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia. Supporting partners included World Health Organization (WHO), Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), the RBM Partnership to End Malaria and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

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