2008 Meeting and Activities Archives

Informal Consultation to Review the Greater Mekong Sub-Region in Malaria Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, 9-10 October 2008, Millennium Hilton Bangkok Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand  (PDF file, 343 KB)

USAID Mekong Malaria Programme core partners' meeting, 7-8 October 2008, Bangkok, Thailand   (PDF file, 168 KB)

USAID-funded Partners supporting Mekong Malaria Programme activities met in Bangkok from 7 to 8 October 2008 to take stock of progress made in 2008 and plan their activities in 2009. Country representatives presented also their achievements and challenges to be possibly addressed by partners in 2009. Special attention was paid to strategic activities and requested budget to eliminate artemisnin resistance parasites in the GMS.

Informal consultation on resource mobilization for the containment of artemisinin-tolerant malaria parasites on the Cambodia-Thailand border, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 17-18 June 2008  (PDF file, 168 KB)

Together with MMP, WPRO has organized the informal consultation on resource mobilization for the containment of artemisinin-tolerant malaria parasites on the Cambodia-Thailand border in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 17 to 18 June, 2008. Representatives from Cambodia and Thai malaria programmes and donors (e.g. USAID, BMGF, AUSaid, DFID and Clinton Foundation) participated in the consultation. DPM from WPRO, Dr Nesbit, co-chaired the overall session. Purpose was to present and clarify to potential donors budgeted national / cross-country containment operations resulting from several consultative meetings in Geneva, Bangkok and Phnom Penh and with national programmes thanks to several missions and intensive assistance from WHO and partners. USD 37, 972,981 are requested to cover 18-month operations to take place in both countries (10 provinces in Cambodia and 7 in Thailand) from January 2009 till June 2010, on top of existing funding e.g. from GFR6 in Cambodia and GFR7 in Thailand. It is anticipated that GFR9 will cover longer term operations from July 2010 onwards. Meeting outcomes reiterated the need to start containment operations as emergency operations with solid technical and efficient managerial structure across the 2 countries. In light of the magnitude of short term elimination operations and funding and limited staff capacity at peripheral level, a feasibility study is urgently needed. The writer facilitated the finalization of the cross country containment plan and budget with VBDC Thailand and CNM Cambodia in order to strengthen strategic operations alignment, impact/outcome indicators and overall multi country budget keeping in perspective the essential coordination role of MMP with USAID-funded partners as well.  Next action is for WHO to finalize the LOI to be submitted to the BMGF and to collaborate with both countries to develop GFR9 proposals to support long-term containment operations till 2015.

A training session from 23-25 May 2008, Shanghai, China

Following recommendations made in Phuket, Thailand, during an informal consultation to monitor P. falciparum and P. Vivax resistance to 1st line animalarial drugs in the GMS, a training session from 23 to 25 May 2008 was organized by the National Institute of Parasitology in Shanghai (Director, Prof Tang Ling-hua). The training session was facilitated by D. Bustos (dorinabustos@yahoo.com) with 12 participants from PR China and therapeutic efficacy study (TES) focal points from Lao PDR and Viet Nam.  Participants became familiar with the updated WHO protocol to monitor resistance and technical clarifications were provided upon request. 

Members of the Mekong Malaria Technical Advisory Group on molecular markers, Dr Frederick Ariey from Institute Pasteur, Cambodia, and Dr Hans Peter-Beck from Swiss Tropical Institute, Switzerland visited the National Institute of Parasitology during the same period.  The importance of standardized procedures (SOPs) for molecular assays was explained to participants, e.g. for blood collection, transport, laboratory SOPs, quality control procedures and exchange of blood samples.

USAID Mekong Malaria Programme core partners' meeting, 28-29 April 2008, Bangkok, Thailand  (pdf file, 214 KB)

WHO MMP has co-organized the USAID core partners' meeting in Bangkok from 28 to 29 April 2008 to review progress made against USAID-funded activities planned in October 2007. As essential meeting outcomes were the 2 presentations made by HE Dr Duong Socheat (Director CNM Cambodia) and Dr Wichai Satimai (Director VBDC Thailand) summarizing budgeted emergency interventions to be performed in 2008 to contain artemisnin tolerant falciparum parasites. Longer-term detailed containment budget will be produced by the 2 countries to be submitted to potential donors e.g. the BMGF and USAID to cover the period from January 2009 to June 2010 and the GFTAM R9 from July 2010 onwards. Participants agreed to increase their technical and financial contributions with focus on field interventions impacting on drug resistance along the Cambodia-Thailand border and in the GMS.

Informal consultation to draft the strategy to eliminate P. falciparum MDR strains, 13-14 February 2008, Bangkok, Thailand  (pdf file, 222 KB)

Programme managers, implementers, researchers and donors agree on strategic interventions to be immediately supported by all partners in Cambodian and Thai provinces where tolerant artemisinin malaria parasites have been documented (Bangkok, 13-14 February 2008).

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