Invitation to attend the Joint Malaria Symposium: “Science and policy shield the vulnerable from malaria”

Registration is now open for the Joint Malaria Symposium: “Science and policy shield the vulnerable from malaria”. The symposium will be held on Monday, 20 June 2016, at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 9am-1pm.

This symposium is organized by Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), McGill University and Structure-Guided Drug-Discovery Coalition (University of Toronto) to share scientific knowledge with local scientists and raise awareness about malaria and MMV.

Over the last 16 years, in collaboration with over 375 partners, MMV has assembled the largest-ever pipeline of antimalarials, and has brought forward six new medicines. These are already saving lives and have helped contribute to the impressive halving of malaria mortality from 2000 to 2015. Despite this global progress, in 2015 over 200 million people were infected by malaria and 438,000 people died; 70% of them young children. Pregnant women are also disproportionately affected, with around 125 million pregnancies at risk every year.

Canada’s role in global health is on the rise. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) committed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)¹ and Canadian scientists have recently called for a substantial increase in research funding for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) including malaria² . The Grand Challenges Canada (GCC) initiative, funded by the Government of Canada, has invested over $12 million in a broad swathe of 40 innovations that address malaria³. In addition, across Canada, scientists are working to develop novel and effective therapeutic interventions for malaria, improve diagnostics, develop a greater understanding of the fundamental biology of the parasite and better understand approaches to managing severe and drug-resistant malaria. MMV is eager to leverage cutting-edge Canadian science and medicine to control and ultimately eliminate this deadly disease.

Register here by April 30, 2016. Registration is free and compulsory. 

Agenda can be found here.