A CALL TO HOST THE 9TH MIM PAMC EAST AFRICAN REGION - April 12-16, 2027
Deadline for submission of letter of intent: April 25th, 2025
Background
Established in 1997 as an initiative to strengthen and sustain through collaborative research and training, the capacity of malaria endemic countries in Africa to carry out research required to develop and improve tools for malaria control, the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) has fully grown into a network that builds capacity among African scientist to conduct research. In the past 18 years, it has strived to strengthen research capacity in Africa through increasing international cooperation and communication and the utilization of research findings to inform malaria prevention, treatment, and control. The MIM in the past 18 years has scored major successes in training and institutional capacity strengthening but also leaves much to be desired in how she can adapt in a changing world of new disease burdens and limited resources for malaria research and control.
Objectives
- To develop sustainable malaria research capacity in Africa through international and Pan-African scientific partnerships.
- To promote global communication and cooperation between organizations and individuals concerned with malaria to maximize the impact of resources and avoid duplication of effort.
- To ensure research findings are applied to malaria treatment and control, to translate practical problems into manageable research questions by stimulating and facilitating dialogue among scientists, public health professionals, policy makers, and industry.
- To raise international public awareness of the problem of malaria, to raise the status of malaria on political agendas, to mobilize resources and provoke action.
Past MIM Secretariats and Conferences
Past MIM Secretariats and Conferences From its onset, the secretariat has been rotating from one institution to another with each its own achievement. At the inception conference in Dakar in 1997, the Welcome Trust, London, United Kingdom committed to house and support the first MIM Secretariat. It did this from October 1997- 1999 and organised the 2nd conference in Durban (1999). The Fogarty International Centre, Washington DC, USA was the second to host the MIM Secretariat from May 1999 - 2002 and organised the conference in Arusha Tanzania (2002). The secretariat then moved to Stockholm University/Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden from 2003-2005 and they organised the conference in Yaounde, Cameroon (2005). In January 2006, the secretariat moved to Africa at AMANET, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania who then became the first African institution to host the MIM Secretariat. AMANET organised the conference in Nairobi, Kenya (2009). In October 2010, the secretariat moved to the Biotechnology Centre of the University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon. The secretariat at the Biotechnology Centre together with South African Medical Research Council successfully organized the 6th MIM Pan African Malaria Conference in Durbar, South Africa. The MIM was repeated in Dakar, 20 years latter hosting 2500 guest scientists in April, 2018. The 8th PAMC was held in Kigali this year 2024 and in line with its tradition of organizing the MIM Conference regularly, the MIM Secretariat is putting out the next call for applications to host the 9th MIM Pan African Malaria Conference in 2027. At the Dakar meeting, in 2018, a MIM Society was founded and registered in Belgium in 2022, with the Northern Secretariat at the University of Antwerp and the Southern Secretariat at the University of Yaounde I, Cameroon. Who will be the next to host? Below are the timelines towards the next conference.
Calendar of Events
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| A 4-page intent to host the conference is required along side a short 5min video | April 25th, 2024 |
| Selection by electronic evaluation teleconference | April 27th, 2024 |
| A full proposal is expected by | October 30th , 2024 |
| Composition of the Mini-Conference Scientific Committee | November 30th , 2024 |
| First Announcements and call for abstracts and exhibitors | December, 15th, 2024 |
| Inspection of conference site and preparations | February 28th, 2025 |
| Second announcements and call for abstracts and exhibitors | June 30th , 2025 |
| Establishment of full Scientific Committee | October 30th , 2025 |
The Application Process
For reasons of fairness and rotations between the different economic zones of Africa, it is the turn again for applications members of the East African Community. An application to host the next MIM conference is solicited from individual institutions or group of Institutions (consortia) within a country in Africa that do research and training in Malaria.
The full application should comprise the following items:
- An Introduction
- The malaria situation of the country
- Efforts made by the country scientists in malaria research and control
- The desire to host the conference
- Capacity of Conference Facilities
- Accessibilityof the conference venues and airport capacity
- Number of Hotels their bed capacity and star ratings
- Past Experience hosting conferences
- Local Telecommunication infrastructure
- Plan for local organising committees
- Composition of local organising committees
- Mention of chair and secretaries
- Proposition of local scientific committee
- Willingness to support researchers – Endorsements will follow later
- Other Items
- Climate
- Tourism plan an attractions
- Health infrastructure
- Emergency management plan
- Visa applications
- Currency and conversion rates
- Detailed budget to host 2500 persons according to the table below
- Fund raising and financial reporting plan
| Item | Justification | Calculations | Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lodging | Average | ||
| Airfares | African – Far | ||
| Africa - Near | |||
| Europe/America | |||
| Europe/Africa | |||
| Asia/Africa | |||
| Transportation | Local Buses | ||
| And errand cars | |||
| Halls | Conference Centre Halls | ||
| Feeding | Lunches | ||
| Coffee breaks | |||
| Conference Dinner | |||
| Welcome reception | |||
| Per diems | |||
| Logistics | Secretariat Computers, Communication, Connectivity Stationery | ||
| Hostesses | |||
| Dance Groups | |||
| Live band | |||
| Excursions | |||
| Database Analyst & repairs | |||
| Committees(100members) Scientific and Local org | |||
| Interpretation | Rentals and Service | ||
| Audio-visuals | Public Address Systems | ||
| Pre-Conference Meetings | 2 meetings | ||
| Exhibition Booths | Constructing/Rental of booths | ||
| Legal Counsel | 1 legal house | ||
| Press & Communication | Radio/TV | ||
| Poster boards | |||
| Posters/Banners | |||
| Slots in Journals | |||
| Postage (Pre and Post) | |||
| Abstract book | 3500 | ||
| Conference bags | Including prints |
Submitting applications
A 4 page letter of Intent should include
- Capacity of Conference Facilities
- Accessibility of the conference venues and airport capacity
- Number of Hotels their bed capacity, star ratings and tourism potential
- Past Experience hosting conferences
- Budget table above
The LoI in pdf format must be submitted by email to the address below:
For further information
For questions related to this call for applications to host the 9th MIM Pan African Malaria Conference, please contact:
- MIM Secretariat, c/o The Executive Director
- Pr. Wilfred Mbacham at wfmbacham@fobanginstitutes.org