“Mosquitoes don’t respect our borders”: MARC SE-Africa webinar on strengthening regional responses to antimalarial drug resistance
On 24 June 2025, key stakeholders addressing drug-resistant malaria in Africa participated in the MARC SE-Africa webinar on strengthening regional collaboration to tackle this urgent and growing issue. Malaria researchers, representatives of national malaria programmes, ministries of health and other malaria practitioners tuned in and learned how the Regional detailed action plan for responding to antimalarial drug resistance in East Africa was created and how this experience can inform similar work in Southern Africa.
In her welcome remarks, Prof Karen Barnes from the University of Cape Town introduced the consortium and the partners’ aims. She emphasised the importance of regional collaboration and reminded the participants that this work is complementary to and supportive of the work being done at the national level. All regional actions are discussed and agreed upon by the national malaria programmes.
Cooperation and sharing of data, skills and resources helps countries work in efficient and cost-effective ways, which is especially key in the current context where funding for many malaria-related initiatives has been cut.
Dr Eulambius Mlugu, a senior researcher at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences and a TDR/WHO Fellow in Clinical Research Leadership, presented the process of creating the Regional detailed action plan for responding to antimalarial drug resistance in East Africa.
His presentation focused on the consensus-building process in East Africa, which led to a shared understanding of the problem of drug-resistant malaria, its magnitude and impact on public health. This process was facilitated by the existence of an existing regional platform – the East African Community’s Great Lakes Initiative – which aims to intensify cross-border collaboration.
The MARC SE-Africa team, with support from the East African Community, followed a 5-step process to develop the regional plan:
initial drafting of the regional action plan
stakeholder consultations
The consensus-building process culminated in the endorsement of the regional action plan by the EAC ministers of health in May 2025. The EAC Sectoral Council of Ministers of Health even recommended that partners mobilise resources to implement the regional action plan and that progress should be reported during next year’s meeting.
In the final part of the webinar, attention shifted towards Southern Africa, with Dr Donnie Mategula from the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Programme discussing MARC SE-Africa’s work in the region and how lessons learned in East Africa can be applied. He emphasises the importance of five key lessons from the East African regional collaboration:
early recognition of the problem (K-13 mutations)
strong political will and regional coordination
expedited data sharing across borders
cross-border initiatives that involved mapping of regions of interest and joint interventions
swift responses at the country level
A shared regional response, he concluded, offers the best chance of preserving the efficacy of Artemisinin-based combination treatments.
During the Q&A session, the participants and the presenters reflected on the importance of collaboration during a time when “more money is needed, and less is available” in the fight against malaria. Proactive and collaborative action was identified as key, ensuring that countries have control of the situation before the situation worsens.
Co-created plans such as the Regional detailed action plan for responding to antimalarial drug resistance in East Africa are critical in protecting the effectiveness of ACTs and limiting the spread of antimalarial drug resistance in the region, but the next step - implementation - is essential and needs to actively involve all relevant stakeholders.
The next webinar in the series will take place in July and cover the topic of digital tools that detect and track antimalarial drug resistance trends and aid in guiding responses across East and Southern Africa.
Further information will soon be shared on the project website – stay tuned!
