Washington, DC – About 250 million people around the world suffer from malaria each year and about 655,000 die from the disease. Almost 23 million people live in areas at risk for malaria in the Americas. Although cases declined 59 percent and malaria deaths declined 70 percent between 2000 and 2011 there still is substantial risk from this disease.

The Malaria Champions of the Americas Award is an initiative of Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), in coordination with the Pan American Health and Education Foundation (PAHEF) and the George Washington University Center for Global Health (CGH) that seeks to identify, celebrate, and provide avenues to emulate best practices and success stories in malaria prevention and control. The forum will allow discussion on key factors to keep these achievements, such as the expansion of diagnostic testing, anti-malarial treatment coverage and surveillance.

It will be held on Thursday, November 8, 2011, 1:30 – 4:30 p.m at the Pan American Health Organization headquarters in Washington DC.

The three winners of the 2012 Malaria Champions of the Americas contest, Brazil – State Health Department of Acre, Ecuador – Control and Surveillance of Malaria, Paraguay – National Malaria Control Program will be honored and their video profiles will be presented during the event:

Speaking will be: Dr. Marcos Espinal, Manager, Health Surveillance and Disease Prevention and Control; Dr. Mirta Roses Periago, Director, PAHO; Dr. Socorro Gross, Assistant Director, PAHO; Dr. Don Tharpe, PAHEF President: Ashleigh Black, Assistant Director GW-CGH; Dr. Richard Cibulskis, Coordinator, Strategy, Economics, & Elimination Unit, WHO Global Malaria Program; Dr. Alan Magill, Director for Malaria, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Dr. Matthew Lynch, Vice Chair RBM Partnership Board; Dr. Keith H. Carter, Senior Advisor on Malaria, PAHO; Dr. Jon Andrus, Deputy Director, PAHO.

Interested parties can participate via online through: http://www.livestream.com/paho