On Tuesday 25 April, Malaria Consortium recognised World Malaria Day. This year featured many engaging and colourful events and ceremonies around the organisation. See a few of our favourite moments here.
Nigeria
Malaria Consortium and members from the Roll Back Malaria partnership in Nigeria commemorated the day with an event themed ‘End Malaria for Good’, and the slogan ‘What is Your Role?’
The event was chaired by Minister of Health Professor Isaac F Adewole, who also launched a new comic book titled: ‘The Fight Against Malaria’. The book has been written to increase malaria education, such as preventive measures, malaria symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, among children.
Mozambique
Mozambique’s Niassa Province marked the day by officially launching a long last insecticidal net distribution campaign which is delivering over one millions nets to 480,000 households.
A World Malaria ceremony was also held in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, which was attended by the Minister of Health. The day’s entertainment included songs and dance performances that raised awareness of malaria prevention. The event featured an exhibition which Malaria Consortium had an educational booth in.
Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, Malaria Consortium participated in a festival in Gambella Regional National State, one of the remotest areas of the country. The festival, attended by over 10,000 people, featured traditional dance and a test, treat and track demonstration.
Chad
Malaria Consortium Chad participated in an conference led by the National Malaria Control Programme. The conference was attended by the Minister of Health, UN representatives, and the mayor of N’djamena and health professional. The celebration included a film and speeches about malaria and its impact in Chad.
Uganda
Uganda celebrated World Malaria Day at an event in Kabarole District. The event featured a range of educational booths and activities and was attended by Minister of Health, Sara Opendi.
UK
Despite the UK Government’s untimely announcement of a national election, and the subsequent postponing of the UK World Malaria Day parliamentary event, Malaria Consortium’s London office supported efforts around the world with a seven day online campaign.
The campaign highlighted the effectiveness, high impact and value for money malaria projects have, particularly in seasonal malaria chemoprevention and long lasting insecticidal net distributions.
Another campaign, titled #MalariaHeroes, also increased awareness about malaria and shone a light on people who go the extra mile to ensure communities have access to malaria prevention tools, diagnosis and treatment.