Member countries of the CO-infection with Plasmodium malariae (COMAL) project convereged in Yaoundé, Cameroon for its first general assembly. The two day annual scientific gathering brought together all four member countries: Gabon, Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon.
Apart revisiting work done by the various country teams, the meeting was also marked by intense brainstorming and generation of recommendations to boost performance, synchronise and improve scientific publications which will further improve its contribution towards eliminating malaria mainly transmitted by Plasmodium malariae.
With the re-emergence of non-falciparum infection like P. malariae, there is need to strengthen capacity and build a strong consortium network which will rapidly generate evidence to speedup the elimination of this vector.
In response to challenge of malaria and little information available on P. malariae, the COMAL project seeks to understand Plasmodium malariae parasite survival strategies to rationally design whole-parasite candidate vaccines.
For sustainability and continuity, the COMAL project which was birth in 2018, has recruited at least Post Doc and PhD student from each of the four countries. And each team is coordinated by the country’s Principal Investigator.
