As countries of the Americas move forward in the effort to decrease the burden of malaria in the region, the Pan American Health and Education Foundation (PAHEF), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), The George Washington University Center for Global Health (CGH), and other partners seek to identify, celebrate, and provide avenues to emulate best practices and success stories in malaria prevention and control.

The Malaria Champions of the Americas Award honors innovative efforts that have significantly contributed towards overcoming the challenges of malaria in communities, countries, or the region.

Qualification Information

Any individual, institution, group, or project conducting efforts to overcome the challenges of malaria in the Americas is eligible to participate and receive the distinction. Activities should preferably be ongoing or completed within the last year. Nominations will be evaluated based on demonstrated achievements in the following areas:

Capacity Building

Promotes the development of sustainable skills that translates into a strengthened ability to define and achieve objectives.

Technical Expertise and Innovation

Exhibits competent use of current technical knowledge, tools, and skills; and incorporates original ideas, inventive approaches, and creative strategies that increase productivity.

Collaboration

Fosters partnerships with stakeholders to fortify and broaden the scope and reach of activities.

Leadership

Displays capacity to establish direction and to influence and align other collaborators towards accomplishing common objectives in a cohesive and coherent manner thereby serving as an influential role model.

Impact

Demonstrates success in malaria prevention and control in a community, a country, or in the region.

A select panel of judges representing various sectors and stakeholders will review the top submissions and select the winning candidate. The top three nominees will be announced in August and invited to participate in a regional event that commemorates Malaria Day in the Americas on November 6, 2009, where the Malaria Champion of the Americas will be honored.

The top three nominees each will receive commemorative certificates and will be featured on several communications and advocacy materials on malaria by PAHO and GWU (e.g., short film documentaries, manuscripts, press and media news releases).

The 2009 Malaria Champion of the Americas award winner also will receive:

• Commemorative plaque
• Opportunity to participate in three select PAHO capacity-building activities for malaria prevention and control
• Support from a George Washington University Global Health Service Fellow for approximately three months to aid in research and field work
• US$2,500 cash award for malaria-related capacity-building efforts (e.g. staff training/education; research; project proposal development; or other activities that enhance skills and abilities to achieve goals and targets)

As a result of strengthened control efforts, the burden of malaria in the Americas has greatly been reduced, leading to a 32% reduction in malaria morbidity since 2000. Of 21 malaria endemic countries in the Americas, more than half have met the Roll Back Malaria goal of reducing cases by 50% in 2010 while six countries have already met the Millennium Development Goal of reducing cases by 75% in 2015.

Continuing challenges in meeting these goals throughout the Americas include: need for stronger and enduring engagement of countries (endemic and non-endemic), continuous and strengthened monitoring and evaluation efforts, need to increase investments of all stakeholders, need to continue education effort in the areas where Malaria has been reduced, and need to build upon the momentum of Malaria Day in the Americas so that peoples of the region become strong and involved advocates against the disease.

As a partner in the search for Malaria Champions, PAHEF brings its many years of experience in identifying role models for health and education work in the Americas. Additionally, PAHEF is lending its expertise in communicating inspiring stories of people and institutions that serve as agents of positive change in the Western Hemisphere and the rest of the world.

PAHO, founded in 1902, works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and quality of life of their peoples. It also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Pan American Health and Education Foundation (PAHEF) is a U.S. nonprofit organization located in Washington, DC. Founded in 1968, the foundation is dedicated to building public health expertise in the Americas to innovatively lead development of healthier generations by partnering with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the private sector, and major public health research, policy, and development groups.

The George Washington Center for Global Health carries out innovative research and scholarly service activities to meet the evolving challenges of the 21st century global health and development environment. Working with a diverse group of partners, the Center aims to strengthen the link between science and policy and to improve responses to critical health issues around the world.

Links

• PAHO Video: Malaria Day in the Americas
• Malaria Page (PAHO)