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Press Release
Dar es Salaam, 20 February 2009
The Multilateral Initiative on Malaria and Partners Receive 3 Million Euros Grant from EDCTP for developing capacities in Central African Institutions to conduct clinical trials
Central African Institutions with coordination from the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria secretariat have been awarded a three million euros grant by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) for establishing a Central Africa Network on Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and Malaria for the Conduct of Clinical Trials (CANTAM). The network involves following partners; in Cameroon-University of Buea, University of Yaoundé1, Centre International de Référence Chantal Biya, and the Organisation de Coordination pour la lutte Contre les Endémies en Afrique Centrale (OCEAC) ; in Congo-University Marie Ngouabi and Centre d’Etudes des Ressources Végétales ; in Gabon- The Medical Research Unit of the Albert Schweitzer Hospital; in Tanzania-Multilateral Initiative of Malaria (The Project Coordinator) and in Germany-The University of Tübingen.
With this grant, CANTAM will develop human resources skills such as good clinical and laboratory practice (GCP and GLP), health research ethics, required to conduct clinical trials including writing clinical trial protocols to guide such trials. The network will also strengthen laboratories in the region to enable them to perform relevant tests for HIV/AIDS and malaria clinical research; strengthen ethical review boards and regulatory authorities where they are weak or absent and establish effective community liaison at each site and identify new study cohorts in villages and towns for future clinical trials on HIV/AIDS and malaria.
As project coordinator, the MIM Secretariat Coordinator will be working hand in hand with participating research institutions in this network in Central Africa, with guidance and political goodwill from the OCEAC. Ever since the MIM Secretariat moved to Africa, the challenge has been to see MIM playing active role in coordinating both health research and the researchers themselves, especially in the Central African corridor which has not been very well covered.
MIM Secretariat is looking forward to playing major role in networking African researchers, setting up specific and cross-cutting disease training programmes and sharing resources and information.
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For further information contact:
Prof Francine Ntoumi
Secretariat Coordinator
Multilateral Initiative on Malaria
Hosted by the African Malaria Network Trust
PO Box 33207, Dar es salaam, Tanzania
Tel: +255 22 2700018 Fax: +255 22 2700380
Email: francince.ntoumi@amanet-trust.org
Press Release
Dar es salaam, 28 November 2008
Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Secretariat Receives US$500,000 Grant from the Gates Foundation to Support the Next MIM Pan-African Malaria Conference
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
Email: clwanga@amanet-trust.org
www.mimalaria.org
PRESS RELEASE
Dar es Salaam/Johannesburg, 25 September 2008
African Researchers Hail Significant Funding Boost for Malaria Vaccine Research
African malaria research experts have welcomed today’s announcements by Roll Back Malaria (RBM) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which pledged continued support and additional funding for malaria vaccine research.
AMANET (African Malaria Network Trust), with headquarters in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania and INDEPTH Research Network (the International Network for Demographic Surveillance of Populations and their Health in Developing Countries), with headquarters in Accra, Ghana, are two African research institutions currently building research capacity and searching for a malaria vaccine. Their trial sites are spread throughout Africa, and have candidate malaria vaccines being tested in Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
Recent reports on the incidence of malaria showcase progress in providing access to short-term malaria control tools – specifically, preventive measures such as long lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying.
Good progress is also being made in the early diagnosis and correct appropriate treatment to cure malaria particularly in children under five years of age and pregnant women; these two constitute the most vulnerable groups in much of sub-Saharan Africa.
The enhanced malaria control as envisaged in the ambitious new Global Malaria Action Plan, when successfully implemented, will reduce malaria disease burden considerably, though in the long-term, the reduction to near zero will depend on entirely new malaria control tools. There is need therefore to focus on researching, developing and deploying the next generation of efficacious malaria control tools – and especially a successful malaria vaccine.
“Africa is where malaria strikes the hardest,” says Professor Wen Kilama, the Managing Trustee of AMANET. “Some 800 000 Africans – mainly children younger than five – die from malaria each year. This is over 90% of the global mortality from malaria, according to World Malaria Report 2008.
“Malaria also compounds Africa’s poverty and slows down its socio-economic development. It costs Africa at least USD 12 billion a year in direct losses and many times more than that in lost economic growth when examined over a long term. It is thus crucial that African scientific organisations are equipped and involved in searching for new and more effective malaria control tools,” argues Professor Kilama.
“As efforts to treat and prevent malaria are continuously being frustrated because the malaria parasite and mosquitoes are increasingly resistant to medicines and insecticides, an effective vaccine against malaria will help. Vaccines, in general, are the backbone of public health interventions, especially in poor countries, where they help contain or even eradicate leading killers. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation support for next generation malaria vaccines will greatly enhance current combined global efforts against malaria,” said Professor Kilama.
Speaking at the eighth INDEPTH Annual General Meeting being held in Dar es Salaam, Dr Osman Sankoh, the Executive Director of INDEPTH Network, says that malaria vaccine research in Africa has begun to provide critical leads towards an effective malaria vaccine for Africa. Commenting on just released funding commitments, Dr Sankoh said: “Sustainability of funding is so important, as effective research in Africa entails building capacity and strengthening health facilities. We are heartened by today’s announcements made by RBM and other partners, and look forward to playing our part in the global efforts to control and eventually eradicate malaria.”
--ends
Issued on behalf of AMANET & INDEPTH
By Meropa Communications, Johannesburg, South Africa, tel +27-11-772-1000
For further information or to schedule interview, please contact:
Charles Wanga, AMANET, P +255-22-2700018 M +255-78-433-7232
Samuel Mikenga, INDEPTH, P +233 21 519 395 M +27-72-529-6769
Khomotso Makuse P +27-11-7721000 Email kgomotsom@meropa.co.za or Maria Djordjevic M +27-82-334-6192 Email mariad@meropa.co.za
Press Release
Dar es Salaam, 14 July 2008
Koffi Olomidé Named Goodwill Ambassador for MIM
 Acclaimed Congolese artiste Koffi Olomidé has been named as the first Goodwill Ambassador for the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) and the upcoming Fifth Pan-African Malaria Conference to be held Nairobi, Kenya, from 2 to 6 November 2009.
Mr Olomidé mission will be to promote awareness of the conference and raise visibility of this forum which provides unique opportunities for malaria scientists, policy makers, funding partners and other stakeholders to meet and exchange ideas, form scientific collaborations and partnerships.
Announcing the appointment, Prof Francine Ntoumi, MIM Secretariat Coordinator, said “We are very pleased that Mr Olomidé has accepted to devote some of his time and energy to promote MIM’s work in advancing malaria research, advocate for increased utilization of research findings and, allocation of more resources by both local and international partners. It is important that African research efforts in finding lasting solution to fight this disease that continues to cost Africa so much, both socially and economically are correctly acknowledged. ”
Accepting the appointment, Mr Olomidé said “I feel very honoured to represent MIM on this mission. I have grown up in a malaria prevalent region. I have suffered several times from malaria and also I have seen children dying from this disease. I have also seen how our pregnant mothers suffer. People have suffered so many times from malaria, there has been so much death to such an extent losing a child’s life from this disease is commonplace. This is heartbreaking”
“So I felt very privileged when MIM approached me to become their ambassador and I accepted unconditionally and with passion as I want to actively participate in advocating and promoting the work of African malaria researchers and their partners who are leading the search for appropriate and affordable solutions to rid African communities of malaria ” he added.
Born in 1956 in Kisangani, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Koffi Olomidé grew up in Kinshasa, the capital. He learned singing and playing guitar at a young age. Taking inspirations from local celebrities at that time, he debuted with a song called Onia which was followed by records Asso and Princesse ya Senza. These records put Olomidé in the limelight and earned him performances with such popular bands as Zaïko Langa Langa and Viva La Musica, before he decided to go solo. He produced his first album entitled “Ngounda” in 1983; three years later he formed his now famous band Quartier Latin. This marked the beginning of a successful international career for Olomidé as a famous composer and show-man.
Koffi Olomidé is one of Africa’s best selling artists; with record performances both in Africa Europe, and North America. Olomidé has won four Kora Awards, given annually for musical achievement in sub-Saharan Africa. In the 2005 Kora Awards, he was named Africa’s Best Artist of the decade.
The upcoming Pan-African Malaria Conference, jointly organised by MIM and Kenya Medical Research Institute, will bring together nearly 2000 malaria researchers and control experts from malaria-endemic countries in Africa, as well as malaria scientists, administrators, and representatives from private foundations, governments and international organizations from all corners of the world.
Under the theme “Building Knowledge for Action", the Conference will provide a unique forum for communication, exchange of ideas and information, particularly with regard to dissemination of malaria research results; formation of scientific collaborations and public private partnerships; increasing international responses towards allocation of resources for malaria research and control; translation of the research results to operational guidelines and policies; reporting of field operational problems for translation to researchable questions; and enhancing malaria awareness and status on the international political and development agendas.
MIM is an alliance of individuals, funding partners and four autonomous constituents namely: MIM/TDR, MIMCom, MR4 and the MIM Secretariat. Established in 1997 in Dakar, Senegal, MIM is working towards strengthening and sustaining through collaborative research and training, the capacity of malaria-endemic countries in Africa to carry out research that is required to develop and improve tools for malaria control and to bridge the research-control interphase.
download this release [pdf 161k]
MIM has new Secretariat Coordinator
15 August 2007
 Dr Francine Ntoumi has been announced as the new Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Secretariat Coordinator effective from 15 August 2007. She joins MIM, from the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), where she has been Senior Scientific Officer.
"Being one of the first proud beneficiaries of the MIM initiative, I am excited to be given an opportunity to work for the MIM fraternity. MIM has and continues to play a very important role in building a pool of African malaria researchers who are taking the fight against malaria into all frontiers. Their input is crucial and they have to contribute to the global research malaria agenda", said Dr Ntoumi.
As Coordinator, Dr Ntoumi will be the operator in-charge for the MIM Secretariat on advocacy, resource mobilization and raising awareness for the malaria cause among stakeholders in Africa and globally; promoting malaria R&D capacity strengthening; enhancing networking and coordination among MIM constituents and other malaria research and control alliances; and in promoting African involvement and commitment into the Initiative. Dr Ntoumi will be assisted by a Communications Officer, an Executive Assistant and Information and Technology Officer.
Dr Ntoumi, a Congolese national, has vast experience in malaria research, capacity building, management and leadership. Prior to her position as Senior Scientific Officer for EDCTP, she was Director of Research/Associate Professor and Malaria Research Leader at the Medical Laboratory, Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Lambaréné, Gabon and the University of Tübingen, Germany from 2000-2005; Senior Molecular Biologist, Malaria Group, Centre Medical de Recherchés de Franceville, Gabon; and Post doctoral fellow, Experimental Parasitology, Institute Pasteur, France. She has a Masters degree and a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Paris VI, France. Before that she earned her undergraduate degree in her native Congo (Brazzaville). Over the years she has worked and taught in different institutions in France, Gabon, Germany, The Netherlands, and Congo where she still teaches at Marien Ngouabi University. She has mentored over a dozen postgraduate students, mostly at PhD and postdoctoral levels.
Dr Ntoumi speaks and writes excellent French, is fluent in English and German and of course excellent in Lingala and Lari, the main Congolese national languages.
“This is the right time for Dr Ntoumi to come into the Secretariat as we work towards repositioning MIM for more efficient performance to conform to contemporary scene for malaria capacity building and R&D in Africa. Her passion for facilitating development of scientific capacity will be the greatest asset she will bring in” said Prof Wen Kilama, Managing Trustee of AMANET, which currently hosts the MIM Secretariat. He further added that “AMANET wished to genuinely reach out to Francophone Africa: Francine will be a great asset in this regard”.
She has served on several international committees in various capacities: Member, MIM/TDR Task Force (2003-present); Member, AMANET Scientific Coordinating Committee (2001-2005); Member, Scientific Advisory Board for MIM (2003-2005); Deputy Chair, Developing Countries Coordinating Committee of EDCTP (2003-2005); Coordinator, Network on Ethics on Biomedical Research (NEBRA), Central African chapter (2005-2006) and coordinator for the Malaria Immunology and Pathogenesis in Africa Consortium (MIMPAC) involving Seven (7) African institutions and European partners (2004-2005) to name a few. She also serves as reviewer for several scientific journals.
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