This newsletter aims to provide regular updates o­n APMEN activities and events as well as news o­n elimination efforts in the Asia Pacific region.

APMEN AGM 2016

The APMEN Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held in Bangkok, Thailand, o­n Thursday 12 Mayas part of the first Asia Pacific Joint Malaria Week.  The Joint Malaria Week provided an opportunity for malaria platforms and stakeholders to integrate key meetings, hosted by WHO, GF-RAI, APMEN, APLMA, private sector and civil society groups, and to progress malaria elimination efforts across the region.

The APMEN AGM was attended by over 80 participants, including the Network's Country Partners, Partners Institutions, Observer Institutions along with representatives from four Observer Countries - Afghanistan, Myanmar, Pakistan and Timon Leste.  The meeting focused o­n reviewing regional needs and priorities, and how the Network can best support these within the changing landscape of malaria elimination in the Asia Pacific.  

The meeting summary is now available. Presentations and photos from the meeting will be uploaded o­n the APMEN website shortly.

Upcoming Working Group Meetings

The APMEN Vivax Working Group (VxWG) and Surveillance and Response Working Group (SRWG) 2016 meetings are being planned for the week of 17-21 October 2016, in Dhaka, Bangladesh (TBC). 

Please note these dates in your calendar - further information o­n these meetings will be circulated shortly.

APMEN Transition Update

We are pleased to announce that the recruitment process for our new APMEN team members has begun!

The APMEN Secretariat has been working with our partners at the Asia Pacific Malaria Leaders Alliance (APLMA) to realign and synergize the Network's organisational structure - to help us improve our coordination of regional elimination activities.  As part of this, we will recruit two new team members to work together with the APLMA team in our new office in Singapore.

Please see the following links to the advertised positions: APMEN Director/ APMEN Programme Manager (Operations). We encourage you to circulate these throughout your networks - and we welcome applications from existing Network members who wish to apply their skills in supporting regional elimination efforts.

New APMEN website!

We are currently in the process of creating a new and improved APMEN website, where you'll be able to easily access all the information about the Network. We look forward to sharing this with you in the near future.

APMEN Six Year Report

APMEN is pleased to share its recently published Six Year Report: 2009-2015, highlighting the Network's key achievements since its inception.

APMEN Research Highlights

Efficacy of Artesunate-mefloquine for Chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium vivax Malaria in Malaysia: An Open-label, Randomized, Controlled Trial

Matthew J. Grigg, Timothy William, Jayaram Menon, Bridget E. Barber, Christopher S. Wilkes, Giri S. Rajahram, Michael D. Edstein, Sarah Auburn, Ric N. Price, Tsin W. Yeo, and Nicholas M. Anstey

 Congratulations to our research partners o­n the publication of this pivotal APMEN-supported study in Malaysia. As a direct result of the evidence generated by this clinical study, the national treatment policy for first line blood stage P. vivax in Malaysia has now been changed from chloroquine to ACT (along with a 2 week primaquine regimen). 

View Clinical Infectious Diseases article

Where chloroquine still works: the genetic make-up and susceptibility of Plasmodium vivaxto chloroquine plus primaquine in Bhutan

Sonam Wangchuk, Tobgyel Drukpa, Kinley Penjor, Tashi Peldon, Yeshey Dorjey, Kunzang Dorji, Vishal Chhetri, Hidayat Trimarsanto, Sheren To, Amanda Murphy, Lorenz von Seidlein, Ric N. Price, Kamala Thriemer and Sarah Auburn.

 With the aid of an APMEN small research grant, our colleagues in Bhutan conducted a clinical trial to evaluate the national treatment policy for P. vivax. The combination of chloroquine and primaquine was shown to continue to be effective in Bhutan, with genetic analyses indicating that the local parasite populations are maintained by imported infections. 
          View Malaria Journal article

Further Evidence of Increasing Diversity of Plasmodium vivax in the Republic of Korea in Recent Years

Jung-Yeon Kim, Youn-Kyoung Goo, Young-Gun Zo, So-Young Ji, Hidayat Trimarsanto, Sheren To, Taane G. Clark, Ric N. Price, Sarah Auburn

Our partners in the Republic of Korea (ROK) applied a population genetic approach to gauge P. vivax transmission dynamics in the ROK between 2010 and 2012, finding that an external geographic reservoir with moderate diversity sustains the majority of P. vivax infection in the ROK.

View PLOS o­nE article

Recent Publications

Frequent blood feeding enables insecticide-treated nets to reduce transmission by mosquitoes that bite predominately outdoors

Tanya L. Russell, Nigel W. Beebe, Hugo Bugoro, Allan Apairamo, Weng K. Chow, Robert D. Cooper, Frank H. Collins, Neil F. Lobo and Thomas R. Burkot

View Malaria Journal article

Village malaria worker performance key to the elimination of artemisinin-resistant malaria: a Western Cambodia health system assessment

Sara E. Canavati, Saranath Lawpoolsri, Cesia E. Quintero, Chea Nguon, Po Ly, Sasithon Pukrittayakamee, David Sintasath, Pratap Singhasivanon, Koen Peeters Grietens and Maxine Anne Whittaker.

View Malaria Journal article

Asymptomatic Plasmodium infections in 18 villages of southern Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR (Laos)

Koukeo Phommasone, Bipin Adhikari, Gisela Henriques, Tiengkham Pongvongsa, Panom Phongmany, Lorenz von Seidlein, Nicholas J. White, Nicholas P. J. Day, Arjen M. Dondorp, Paul N. Newton, Mallika Imwong and Mayfong Mayxay

View Malaria Journal article

Other news »

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• The collaborative mission of IMPE-QN, WHO, and RAI investigates malaria situation in Khanh Hoa province (11/28/2023)
• IMPE-QN cooperated with Korea's leading universities in Bio-health research and training (11/20/2023)
• IMPE-QN welcomes international units to visit and exchange research cooperation (06/05/2023)
• MOU Signing Ceremony and Joint Scientific Seminar between the Institute of Malariology, Parasitology and Entomology and Gyeongsang National University (Republic of Korea) (12/09/2022)
• US Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU-2) visits to and exchanges research cooperation with IMPE-QN (08/16/2022)