The Health Minister Dr. Lino Tom recently announced the government’s commitment to co-host the Asia Pacific Leaders’ Summit on Malaria Elimination with the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance- APLMA on 6-7th of June in Port Moresby city.
“Hosting the Leaders’ Summit will be a timely opportunity for countries in the Asia Pacific Region to share its achievements, renew political will and address challenges to achieving elimination by 2030,” said Dr. Tom.
This high-level forum will be aligned under Papua New Guinea’s (PNG’s) Vision 2050 as well as the theme for the National Health Plan 2021-2030: Leaving no-one behind is everybody’s business.
Happening for the first time in Melanesia, the upcoming Leaders’ Summit expects Heads of States, Ministers of Health form PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji, and global partners, private sector and local leaders to participate in Port Moresby to ensure leadership commitment, sustainable investment and community empowerment towards malaria elimination.
The Leaders’ Summit will be held over 2 days, with the first day focused on high-level political commitments to malaria elimination followed by a second day of partner meetings and technical discussions.
Dr. Sarthak Das, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance said that this high-level forum marks PNG’s commitment to saving lives by eliminating malaria as well as taking a leadership role in supporting local communities and forging regional health partnerships.
Despite huge progress over the last two decades, the Asia Pacific region continues to report millions of malaria cases. In 2022, PNG reported 899, 510 malaria cases — a 38% increase from 651, 963 cases reported in 2021. With just 7 years remaining to achieve the global goal of ending malaria, the Leaders’ Summit will be a key milestone for leaders within PNG and the Asia Pacific region to unite and make plans towards a malaria-free future.
The Health Minister further stated that, the National Department of Health is committed in providing full cooperation to ensure the success of this important gathering.