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FIND and US President’s Malaria Initiative strengthen partnership

Left to right: Dr David Walton, US President’s Malaria Initiative, Dr Ayoade Alakija, FIND’s Board Chair and Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, FIND’s Chief Transformation Officer/CEO
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - 02/10/2024.

Dr Ayoade Alakija, FIND’s Board Chair and Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, FIND’s Chief Transformation Officer/CEO, met with Dr David Walton, US President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) Global Malaria Coordinator in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, 1 October and commended progress made in tackling malaria.

Building on the commitments made last week at the UN High-Level Meeting on antimicrobial resistance, and looking forward to the 4th Global High-Level Ministerial Meeting on antimicrobial resistance in Saudi Arabia, both FIND and PMI outlined the progress and challenges to making sure malaria diagnostics are available where they’re needed most and the importance of diagnostics to tackle growing drug resistance.

“FIND plays a critical role in the global health infrastructure as a leader in diagnostics, driving innovation, and building partnerships with governments, industry and civil society that drive access to the communities most affected by diseases like malaria,” said Dr David Walton, US President’s Malaria Initiative. “We look forward to building on and expanding our partnership with FIND to tackle malaria, other mosquito-borne viruses and drug resistance.”

A scorching world is helping malaria, and other mosquito-borne diseases like chikungunya, dengue and Zika, spread further and faster and drug resistance is adding a fresh challenge, which threatens to undermine decades of progress.

“The FIND team is proud to partner with the US President’s Malaria Initiative and work towards a world where everyone, no matter where they’re from, can access quality diagnostics,” said Dr. Alakija. “We are excited to work with PMI to advance our shared vision of a world without malaria, with a focus on reaching populations hard to diagnose, such as pregnant women.”

FIND is committed to a world where everyone everywhere has access to diagnostics to live healthier lives and looks forward to partnering with PMI to help meet its vision of a world without malaria through access to quality diagnostics. As a next step PMI and FIND are planning a further leadership meeting in the coming weeks to plot a path to strengthened collaboration and delivering impact on the ground.

Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, FIND’s Chief Transformation Officer/CEO said, “FIND’s collaboration with the US President’s Malaria Initiative adds momentum to efforts to revolutionise diagnostic testing and ensure that people at risk of mosquito-borne viruses like malaria have the tools needed for quick diagnosis, which helps ensure better treatment and pinpoint future vaccination campaigns.”

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About FIND

FIND accelerates equitable access to reliable diagnosis around the world. We are working to close critical testing gaps that leave people at risk from preventable and treatable illnesses, enable effective disease surveillance, and build sustainable, resilient health systems. In partnership with countries, WHO and other global health agencies, we are driving progress towards global health security and universal health coverage. We are a WHO Collaborating Centre for Laboratory Strengthening and Diagnostic Technology Evaluation. For more information, please visit www.finddx.org.

About PMI

The U.S. Government’s focal point for the global fight against malaria, the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative has helped save millions of lives and contributed to substantial gains in education, productivity, and economic development.

PMI started as a five-year initiative with the goal of reducing malaria deaths by 50% in 15 African countries. Thanks to the bipartisan support of Congress and the generosity of the American people, PMI now works in 24 partner countries in sub-Saharan Africa and three programs in the Greater Mekong Subregion in Southeast Asia–representing about 90% of the global malaria burden.

PMI delivers cost-effective, life-saving malaria interventions alongside catalytic technical and operational assistance to equip and empower partner countries to end malaria.