Training Course on Malaria Elimination in Mesoamerica

Over 45 participants from different disciplines attended an Update Course on the Elimination of Malaria in Mesoamerica and the Island of Hispaniola between 16 and 21 February 2014 in San Salvador, El Salvador. Over the six-day course, directors and team members from the programmes working to combat malaria in the nine countries participating in the Global Fund initiative to eliminate malaria in the region (the seven countries of Central America plus the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and in Mexico and Colombia joined researchers working in those countries and representatives of other bodies, including the Pan-American Health Organization and the Clinton Health Access Initiative. The participants came together to discuss ways of achieving the common goal of eliminating malaria and to renew their commitment to working together to achieve this goal.

The main objectives of the course were:

- To share information about the lessons learned in other programmes for the elimination of malaria and other diseases, and to identify the elements that might benefit the programmes in the region

- To pool experience and to analyze the particularities of an approach focused on elimination as compared to sustained control

- To create a space for discussion on the major challenges involved in eliminating malaria from the region, and to identify innovative ways to address these challenges

The speakers included a number of experts in the field, such as Regina Rabinovich, ISGlobal International Scholar, Kent Campbell, director of the malaria control programme of the international organization PATH, and Jose Castillo from the Global Fund. In addition, the official dinner was attended by the Technical Secretary of the Council of Health Ministers from Central America and the Dominican Republic (COMISCA), Julio Valdés, and the El Salvadoran Minister of Health, María Isabel Rodríguez, who stressed the importance of working together to end malaria.

The course was organized by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) in collaboration with Mexico's National Institute of Public Health (INSP) and with the support of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism. The aim was to support the work being undertaken to eliminate malaria in the region as part of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria initiative and in line with the Declaration for the Elimination of Malaria in Mesoamerica and Hispaniola Island in 2020, a statement signed in June 2013 by the Ministers of Health, the Secretaries of Health and other representatives of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.