In Vietnam, malaria control activities have received support from concerned government, local authorities and international organizations. Malaria situation of the whole country has improved considerably, but the burden of malaria is still concentrated in the coastal and highland provinces of Central Vietnam, with about 68.3% of confirmed cases and more than 43% of malaria deaths, compared with the whole country. With the indefatigable efforts from the health staff in the whole central region of Vietnam, malaria control activities have seen encouraging achievements. Furthermore, the health communication and education measures for controlling malaria in the community also played a very important role, contributing significantly to decrease the rate of malaria morbidity, mortality and result in no malaria outbreaks. However, the risk of malaria outbreaks can occur highly at any time due to contributing factors such as low awareness of malaria and its control, difficult access to malaria treatment facilities, border crossing and uncontrolled movement of population into forests and malaria-endemic areas which are out of the local authority's control. Consequently, it is difficult for health centers to manage these groups, and those who go to forests or cross border are at high risk of malaria infection.

Since 2008, according to the initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO), the annual launching ceremony "World Malaria Day" has been organized concurrently in malaria-endemic countries with different themes. The theme of the World Malaria Day 2012 is "Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria". 25 April every year is the occasion that affected countries will share experience and help each other in malaria control activities; it is an opportunity for institutes of malariology to mobilize funds for scientific research to improve malaria control measures.

With the targets of further rolling back malaria, sustaining the achieved gains and celebrating "World Malaria Day 25 April 2012", the Institute of Malariology, Parasitology and Entomology Quy Nhon (IMPE-Quy Nhon) in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Provincial Health Department of Quang Nam would like to organize the launching ceremony and the march o­n propagating "World Malaria Day 25 April". The activity aims to raise the knowledge, attitude and practice of the community o­n malaria control that will contribute to reaching targets of the national malaria control programme towards malaria elimination in Vietnam. The ceremony will also bring together thousands of individuals from health experts to the general public for a unified show of support regarding anti-Malaria efforts. The ceremony will be organized at Bac Tra My district, Quang Nam province, the activities include:

- A meeting to respond to the World Malaria Day and

- A march with propagandizing banners o­n Malaria

Objectives:

-      To provide better understanding of the message of the "World Malaria Day, 25 April" for people of all ethnic groups in Central Vietnam and West Highlands.

-      To raise community awareness about Malaria prevention and control.

-      To propagate the contents and meaning of the "World Malaria Day, 25 April" in order to improve the knowledge, attitude and practice o­n malaria control for the community.

-     To take initiatives of the "World Malaria Day, 25 April" as contributing factors to gaining malaria control objectives and to come to eliminating malaria in the whole Vietnam and the countries of Western Pacific region as well.

Participating representatives

-       Leaderships of the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Departments belonging to MoH;

-     Representative of the WHO in Vietnam; representatives of other international organizations in Vietnam

-      Leaderships from the People's Committee (PC) and other sectors and bodies in Quang Nam province;

-      Leaderships from IMPE-Quy Nhon, the institutes of hygiene and epidemiology, Pasteur institutes, universities of medicine and pharmacy;

-      Representatives from the Military Health Department, Medical Office of Army Corps III, Army Coprs XV;

-      Leaderships from Departments of Health, provincial malaria control centres/provincial centres for preventive medicine in 15 central provinces of Vietnam.

-     Representative of the Quang Nam provincial centre of health education and communication;

-      Leaderships from Quang Nam provincial general hospital, Da Nang Medical Technical University;

-       Representative of military health units in Quang Nam province;

-       Representatives of District Health Centres in Quang Nam province;

-      Medical staff of communal health stations of 2 districts of Bac Tra My and Nam Tra My;

-      Representatives of social classes in 2 districts of Bac Tra My and Nam Tra My (chairmen of communal people's committees, village patriarches, hamlet heads and other sectors in the districts, and pupils from the district boarding school and district high school);

-      Central and local mass media (Central television, Quang Nam provincial TV, Quang Nam provincial Newspaper).

Time: 08.30 - 11.30,25^th April 2012

Place: Centre of Culture and Sports of Bac Tra My district, Quang Nam province, Viet Nam.

Tentative Programme

The success of the Launching Ceremony will significantly contribute to effective implementation of  the National Strategy for Malaria Control and Elimination period 2011-2020 in the severely-hit province of malaria like Quang Nam as well as the high-burden region of Central Vietnam