West Africa Leaders Reaffirms Commitment to Malaria Elimination at ECOWAS Summit
West African leaders have renewed calls for stronger regional cooperation to eliminate malaria across the subregion.
President of Sierra Leone, Julius Bio, highlighted the 27th ECOWAS Assembly of Health Ministers as a key platform for regional action, and was represented as ECOWAS Authority Chairman by Chief Minister, David Moinina Sengeh, who delivered his remarks on Saturday.
The high-level session brought together health ministers from member states, government officials, technical and financial partners, and regional health experts.
The development was disclosed on the organisation’s social media handle on Saturday, noting a shared commitment to advancing a coordinated response towards malaria elimination across West Africa.
The two-day meeting was organised by the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Sierra Leone.
According to the organisers, the meeting is held under the theme “Advancing Malaria Elimination Through an Integrated Regional Strategy”, aimed at strengthening collective action against one of the region’s most pressing public health challenges.
Bio emphasised that population health remains a key indicator of governments’ ability to deliver on their core responsibilities.
He called for concrete, measurable outcomes and accelerated progress from malaria control to elimination through stronger, data-driven and innovative health systems before formally declaring the session open.
In his welcome address, the Minister of Health of Sierra Leone and chairman of the occasion, Austin Demby, highlighted the region’s renewed political commitment to placing health at the centre of sustainable development.
He stressed the urgency of intensifying malaria elimination efforts amid stalled global progress since 2015, declining external financing, and the growing impact of climate change on transmission patterns.
Demby called for increased domestic investment, innovation, and the transformation of health systems into more resilient and responsive platforms.
