African Parliamentarians Unite to Fight Malaria: COPEMA launches in Accra, Ghana
A landmark event on 28th and 29th April 2025, which may redefine Africa’s fight against malaria, saw the launch of the Coalition of Parliamentarians Engaged to End Malaria in Africa, COPEMA.
The event, which took place in Accra, Ghana, brought together parliamentarians from 11 High-Burden, High-Impact countries (HBHI), Programme Managers or representatives of National Malaria Control Programmes from 14 African countries, civil society actors, and international partners. They resolved to strengthen political will and mobilize strategic actions against the continent’s deadliest disease.
COPEMA was formed following a 2024 ministerial meeting in Cameroon. Its mission is to achieve a malaria-free Africa. The coalition aims to empower parliamentarians to become champions in the fight against malaria, using their influence to push for better policies, more funding, and stronger accountability.
According to the World Health Organization’s 2024 Malaria Report, Africa bears the brunt of the global malaria crisis, accounting for 94% of cases and 95% of deaths. In 2023 alone, an estimated 597,000 people died from malaria in Africa. With numbers like these, urgent action is not just important—it’s essential.
The two-day event in Accra focused on four main goals:
- Strengthening collaboration between lawmakers and National Malaria Control Programs
- Equipping parliamentarians with tools for effective malaria advocacy
- Validating and refining COPEMA’s structure and strategic plan
- Officially launching COPEMA as a leading platform for malaria elimination
At the launch event, Dr. Michael Adekunle, CEO of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, urged African lawmakers to take the leading role in the fight against malaria. He told the Parliamentarian to hold governments accountable and push for greater investment in public health. He said the fight against malaria must be seen as an investment because if by 2030, the burden of malaria is reduced by 90%, the African continent’s gross domestic product could be increased by 127 billion US dollars. He committed COPEMA to addressing the communication gaps in the understanding of malaria issues among politicians and encouraged them to see the fight against malaria as an investment with substantial returns.
During a panel session, Dr. Muthali Lumbani, who leads Malawi’s malaria control program, explained a key challenge in his country: the timing of bed net distributions. He noted that while distributing mosquito nets leads to an immediate drop in malaria cases, the protective effects wear off after a few years, leading to a resurgence in infections by the third year.
In contrast, Dr. Kezia Malm, Programme Manager for the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) in Ghana, highlighted the country’s data-driven approach to malaria interventions. She explained that in Ghana, all malaria-related actions are guided by the existing national strategic plan, which is built on a detailed stratification of the malaria burden. Data is used to identify the types and distribution of malaria across different parts of the country, and based on this information, appropriate interventions are implemented accordingly.
As part of its action plan for 2025–2026, COPEMA has committed to:
- Advocating for stronger health systems, including better training, infrastructure, and access to medicines
- Urging governments to increase health budgets, aiming for 15% as per the Abuja Declaration
- Promoting cross-sector collaboration to address malaria and other diseases
- Ensuring African voices are heard in global funding campaigns
- Encouraging partnerships between governments and the private sector
The COPEMA launch was made possible through collaboration with the National Malaria Elimination Programme of Ghana, Africa Kwanza Health Impact, Hope for Future Generation International, the Global Fund, Africa CDC, the World Health Organization, the Pan-African Parliament, and the RBM Partnership to End Malaria.
For more information, read this article from Ghana News Agency.
