By Nformi Sonde Kinsai
Cameroon’s Minister of Public Health, Dr. Manaouda Malachie, has stated that malaria is the oldest disease known to humanity and remains one of the greatest causes of morbidity and mortality in the country in the 21st century.
He was speaking in Yaounde on December 15, 2025, at the start of a three-day maiden scientific conference for the fight against malaria organised by the National Malaria Control Programme, NMCP.
Hailing the organising committee and all other stakeholders for the mobilisation and commitment, the Minister remarked that the event was a reflection of the multi-sectoral approach in the fight against malaria.
Dr. Manaouda said, according to the World Health Organisation, malaria is, at times, classified as an illness of poverty, acting as a stumbling block to development. He said the double socio-economic dimension of the disease has pushed the government to go beyond the biomedical approach to adopt a systemic inter-sectoral and sustainable vision in its treatment.
“In Cameroon, despite the appreciable progress recorded, malaria remains a major cause for consultations, hospitalisation and deaths particularly in children of five years and below, and in pregnant women. In 2024, it represented 26.9 percent of reasons for consultation, 40.6 percent of consultation in children less those five years, 8.2 percent of deaths recorded in health facilities across the country. Pregnant women and children less than five are the most vulnerable.
“These figures are not simple statistics. They are reflection of the lost of lives of families, the bereaved families and fragilised communities. That is why to respond to this pre-occupying situation, the government in collaboration with parters have put in place a strategy based on priority interventions in matters of prevention and treatment in order to stem the effects of the disease in the country,” he stated.
Manaouda said in that light and in view of putting in place the 5th generation strategy, their efforts are concentrated on innovative approaches based on probable data emanating from studies and research carried out in various domains so as to effectively fight the disease.
“In this perspective, the national strategic plan on the fight against malaria 2024-2028 previewed the elaboration of a sub agenda on operational research on malaria. It has been done to facilitate collaboration with university institutions, national and international researchers as well as diverse parters of the NMCP. The scientific days on the fight against malaria is thus an application of the said agenda. It is therefore time to mobilise necessary resources in order to guarantee the attainment of the objectives of the research themes. All the efforts are geared at reducing morbidity and mortality linked to malaria in the country,” he maintained.
He noted that climate change and human activities have contributed to the modification of the behaviour of the vector responsible for the transmission of malaria. He said it is therefore important to take into consideration this determinant in the elaboration of an effective response to problems of malaria.
On his part, the Regional General Manager of Abbott Diagnostics Africa, Aziz Abdi, expressed gratitude to MINSANTE and other stakeholders for the fight against malaria especially considering the progress made by Cameroon in the sub-region.
“Cameroon has made incredible strides in terms of the achievement of the ambitious goal to eliminate malaria. From strengthening surveillance system to enhancing access to diagnosis as well as treatment, the country’s actions are saving lives and strengthening public health outcomes,” Aziz stated.
He noted that unfortunately, the burden of the incidence of malaria in terms of morbidity and mortality in the sub-region is still high compared to global levels. “The statistics are daunting and for that reason, malaria elimination is not a dream for us, not a mission but a mandate. Our commitment to reducing the malaria burden across Sub-Sahara Africa and Cameroon in particular is unwavering. We are continuously investing in innovative diagnostic technologies, reliable solutions and more importantly, we are working in interceding more in partnerships,” he noted.
The President of the scientific committee, Prof. Zoung-Kanyi Bisseil, who is also the Head of the Research Division in MINSANTE; said the African continent is being confronted more and more by climate change leading to the modification of biology of vectors and their resistance to insecticides. She outlined a series of challenges hampering the fight against malaria hammering on the urgent need to meet regularly and in a sustainable manner to adopt and adapt a sustained fight against malaria.
She thanked all authors, evaluators’ and parters for their commitment and contributions in enriching knowledge in public health. To her, the meeting should nourish policy and practice in line with the challenges the continent is facing. She said it was with this in mind that the scientific committee rigorously selected quality contributions of abstracts of the research papers presented at the conference.
The themes bordered on epidemiology of malaria, its pathology, associated commodity, biology of vector, their resistance to insecticide and their control, amongst many others. She remarked that the works are a demonstration of the richness of the reflection and commitment of the national, scientific, and technical communities. She disclosed that the scientific committee received 122 abstracts and 94 were retained. The inaugural lesson at the occasion was delivered by Prof. Wilfred Mbacham.