West Africa’s long battle with malaria is being reframed as both a public health emergency and a sustainability challenge, with regional leaders calling for urgent, coordinated action to break the cycle of disease, poverty, and climate vulnerability.
At the 27th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Assembly of Health Ministers, convened by the Economic Community of West African States and the West African Health Organisation in Freetown, ministers and partners warned that fragmented interventions and inefficient resource use are slowing progress toward malaria elimination.
With West Africa accounting for roughly 40 per cent of the global malaria burden, delegates stressed that no country can tackle the disease alone. Instead, they called for a unified, data-driven and multi-sectoral approach that integrates health systems, climate adaptation, and community-level action.
“Malaria elimination is no longer just a health objective; it is a regional security and development imperative,” said WAHO Director-General, Melchior Aissi, noting that cross-border movement of people and mosquitoes renders isolated national campaigns ineffective.
Stakeholders at the meeting framed malaria as a barrier to sustainable development, particularly in vulnerable communities where climate change is intensifying transmission patterns. Rising temperatures, shifting rainfall, and extreme weather events are expanding mosquito habitats, complicating control efforts.
Ministers agreed that malaria elimination must be embedded within broader sustainability strategies, including resilient health systems, climate-responsive planning, and strengthened local innovation.
The Assembly endorsed a regional malaria elimination framework built on five pillars: stronger governance, digital transformation for real-time surveillance, data-driven targeting of hotspots, locally adapted innovations, and community engagement to ensure last-mile delivery.
A central theme was the need for increased domestic resource mobilisation to reduce reliance on external funding and ensure continuity of interventions.
“Donor cycles end, but malaria does not,” Aissi warned, urging governments to prioritise sustained financing for surveillance, testing, and treatment, especially during peak transmission seasons.
Partners echoed the call, with WAHO collaborators pushing for more efficient use of both domestic and donor funds, alongside deeper private sector participation.
The session also saw renewed political commitment to shift from malaria control to full elimination across all 15 ECOWAS member states within the next decade, an ambition reinforced by Cabo Verde’s malaria-free certification.
Representing Sierra Leone’s president, Julius Maada Bio, Chief Minister David Sengeh described population health as a key measure of governance, urging countries to deliver measurable outcomes through innovation and data-led systems.
Chair of the session and Sierra Leone’s Health Minister, Austin Demby, warned that global malaria progress has stagnated since 2015, with declining external financing and climate pressures threatening recent gains.
He criticised the region’s historically fragmented approach, where financing, vector control, vaccination, and treatment strategies are pursued in silos rather than as part of a unified response.
The Assembly reviewed WAHO’s 2025 annual report, adopted the regional malaria elimination framework, and advanced discussions around the Freetown Charter, a proposed roadmap to align policy, financing, and implementation across borders.
For sustainability advocates, the message from Freetown was clear: malaria elimination in West Africa will depend not just on medical interventions, but on integrated systems that connect health, environment, and economic resilience.
Without that alignment, stakeholders warned, the region risks prolonging a disease burden that continues to undermine human capital, productivity, and long-term development.
