“I welcome the heads of those fighting against malaria. Today we sit under a roof in an air-conditioned room but tomorrow we will have our raincoats, jungle boots on and be ready to visit villages where the fight against this evil malaria disease has been successful”, said Dr Ed Marta, Senior Consultant from Karen Department of Health and Welfare, during the plenary session, reflecting on the efforts of local health care providers involved in fighting malaria.

The plenary session (held at Myawaddy Township on 4 July 2016) was part of a four-day long study tour (from 3–6 July 2016) to RAI–ICC1 MDA/TMT villages in Kayin State, which brought together nearly 60 participants from the RAI implementing countries

“Let’s go hand-in-hand and eliminate malaria in the region,” said Dr Marta, calling upon participants representing the national programmes of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam, alongside participants from Myanmar Department of Public Health, implementing partners, ethnic health partners and UNOPS.

Opening remarks were delivered by Dr Aung Thi, Programme Manager of the National Malaria Control Programme, Dr Thandar Lwin, Director of Disease Control, Ministry of Health and Sports, and Dr Ed Marta, Senior Consultant from Karen Department of Health and Welfare.

The aim of the study tour was to increase collaboration among regional and local partners working together to achieve the common goal of malaria elimination.

Dr Aung Thi in his speech emphasized that regional partners should work together to expedite malaria elimination in the region.

Dr Thandar Lwin stressed that all countries in the region were working towards a common goal for malaria elimination. She added that it would be of great benefit to share country experiences and lessons learnt by regional partners.

Dr Faisal Mansoor, Head of the Programme Unit, UNOPS–PR, was very pleased that it had proved possible to organize the mission in a short timeframe. ”I am very proud to be here today with all our regional malaria colleagues. For me it is like a dream come true,” he said.

The friendly atmosphere of the plenary session provided a platform for interactive discussions and sharing of experiences among the national malaria teams of the region and presentations by implementing partners under the ICC1/RAI project (SMRU, MAM and CPI) on their achievements, findings and experiences with practical implementation and targeted mass treatment (TMT) interventions.

The meeting concluded with a fruitful exchange of opinions and suggestions on the way forward towards regional malaria elimination and MDA/TMT interventions in collaboration with local and regional partners.

The following day, participants enthusiastically took part in a field visit to experience rural community life in Myanmar and witness the realities of on-the-ground implementation including MDA/TMT interventions in hard-to-reach villages of Kayin State.

You can see here some photos of the visit and read more about the field visit here.