The Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Mr Alvin Botes, hosted the State Secretary for Foreign and Global Affairs of the Kingdom of Spain, Mr Diego Martínez Belío, on 23 April 2024. Deputy Minister Botes and State Secretary Martínez Belío co-chaired the 15th Session of the South Africa-Spain Bilateral Consultations. South Africa’s bilateral relations with Spain are managed through the Bilateral Consultations, which meets annually at the Deputy Minister level.

The Official Visit to South Africa enhanced the already strong relations between South Africa and Spain. This visit highlighted the existing cooperation between the two countries and reviewed the progress and implementation of existing agreements.

The meeting deepened engagement and discussions in the areas of mutual interest to both countries, particularly in trade and investment, education, science and innovation, climate change and renewable energy, as well as human rights, migration and women, peace and security.

Bilateral trade between South Africa and Spain grew by 9.7% from $3.1 billion in 2022 to $3.4 billion in 2023. In 2023, Spain was South Africa’s 18th trading partner globally and fifth largest trading partner in the EU. During the same period, South Africa was Spain’s second largest export destination and seventh largest source of imports on the African continent. South Africa’s exports to Spain grew by 12.8% from $1.41 billion in 2022, to $1.77 billion in 2023.

Over the past ten years, there has been steady investment in South Africa by Spanish companies. The bulk of the investment is in the renewable energy sector. South African companies have also looked to Spain as an investment destination in the Real Estate sector. More than 150 Spanish companies have invested in South Africa creating over 20,000 jobs, largely in the following sectors: Infrastructure Development, Renewable Energy, Financial Services, Tourism, Textiles, IT&Software, Metals, and Mining.

Spain also remains a strategic European tourism market for South Africa. There has been a slight recovery in terms of tourist arrivals from Spain for the periods 2022 and 2023. Tourist arrivals increased by a total of 8 716 between the above-mentioned years, from 23 304 in 2023 to 32 020 in 2024. This is a positive indication of inbound travel slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels as far as this market is concerned.

The recent various high-level engagements between South Africa and Spain symbolise the commitment by both countries to promote a better and more equitable world to benefit the people of both countries.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

Madagascar is one of the countries most affected by malaria. According to the Ministry of Public Health, the reported number of malaria cases in 2023 exceeded the national epidemic threshold: 2.8 million cases and 400 deaths were recorded, compared to 1.7 million in 2022.

In Ikongo district, where Médecins Sans Frontières is providing health and nutritional care, people are struggling with a dual crisis of malaria and malnutrition, worsened by geographical challenges. Children under five are particularly at risk of complications. According to USAID, malaria affects around 7.5% of children under five in the country.

Roads Almost Unusable

The malaria peak season ​coincides with the cyclone and rainy season, from October to May. During this time, it becomes extremely difficult for people to access health centres, putting the lives of malnourished children at even greater risk. Dr. Nantenaina, a medical doctor at the Intensive Therapeutic Feeding Centre (ITFC) run by MSF, explains, “When the rain is heavy, providing care for children becomes difficult. The roads become muddy, flooded, and unusable. It is a struggle for both health workers and patients to move around, making it hard for patients to access to health centers or for us to send them back home.“

In hard-to-reach areas like Ikongo, the distance between households and healthcare facilities is significant. Soanary, the mother of a 4-year-old boy suffering from malnutrition and malaria, describes her journey: “After seeing my son’s condition deteriorate, I decided to go to the nearest health center. To get here, I had to walk for four hours and cross through water, carrying my son on my back.“

Soanary isn’t the only one facing this situation. The lack of transports and poor road conditions make it difficult for communities to access health centers, particularly during the rainy and cyclone seasons. As a result, people only seek medical care when their health has deteriorated to a critical condition.

Climate change at the heart of the crisis

Madagascar is one of the countries most threatened by climate change. The country has been severely affected by extreme weather events, which have challenged access to health facilities and undermined the overall state of health and nutrition. This situation has played a significant role in the rise of malaria and malnutrition.

According to the World Health Organization, the rates of malaria cases and deaths due to this disease increased by 25% to 55% between 2015 and 2022. Additionally, the 2023 World Malaria Report highlights that these rates surged by more than 100% between 2000 and 2022.

Changes in temperature and rainfall, as well as significant heat waves and floods, can impact the behavior and survival of the Anopheles mosquito, leading to increased disease transmission within communities. In Ikongo district, which already experiences a humid tropical climate, the effects of climate change are particularly severe. People are cut off from healthcare, exacerbating an already compromised nutritional situation.

Moreover, many villages in Ikongo are surrounded by marshes and rivers. Heavy rains cause flooding of plantations and rice fields, worsening the already precarious nutritional conditions in the area.

“During the rainy season, our health centers receive a lot of cases of malaria,” explains Evelyne, a nurse at the Ikongo primary health centre. “We have at least one new case of a malnourished child who also suffers from severe malaria every week during the rainy season,” says Dr. Nantenaina, a doctor at the Intensive Therapeutic Feeding Centre operated by MSF.

MSF has been present in Ikongo since 2022. Between then and March 2024, MSF medical teams and working with Malgasy health authorities and health promoters have diagnosed and treated 2,205 children suffering from both malnutrition and malaria, including 256 cases this year. In response to food insecurity exacerbated by various climatic phenomena and cyclones, MSF teams have increased activities in the southern part of the country, which has been the most affected. Currently, MSF is supporting seven primary health centers and two intensive nutritional clinics to diagnose and treat malnourished children in Ikongo district.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Médecins sans frontières (MSF).

Ahead of World Malaria Day, the WHO Global Malaria Programme published a new operational strategy outlining its priorities and key activities up to 2030 to help change the trajectory of malaria trends, with a view to achieving the global malaria targets. The strategy outlines 4 strategic objectives where WHO will focus its efforts, including developing norms and standards, introducing new tools and innovation, promoting strategic information for impact, and providing technical leadership of the global malaria response.

In recent years, progress towards critical targets of the WHO Global technical strategy for malaria 2016-2030 has stalled, particularly in countries that carry a high burden of the disease. In 2022 there were an estimated 608 000 malaria-related deaths and 249 million new malaria cases globally, with young children in Africa bearing the brunt of the disease.

Millions of people continue to miss out on the services they need to prevent, detect, and treat malaria. Additionally, progress in global malaria control has been hampered by resource constraints, humanitarian crises, climate change and biological threats such as drug and insecticide resistance.

“A shift in the global malaria response is urgently needed across the entire malaria ecosystem to prevent avoidable deaths and achieve the targets of the WHO global malaria strategy,” notes Dr Daniel Ngamije, Director of the Global Malaria Programme. “This shift should seek to address the root causes of the disease and be centred around accessibility, efficiency, sustainability, equity and integration.”

Strategic objectives

The WHO Global Malaria Programme has an important role to play in leading the response to control and eliminate the disease worldwide. Through its direct actions and networks, including a presence in 150 countries, the Programme is well placed to shape the malaria ecosystem and achieve impact at country level.

The new operational strategy includes 4 strategic objectives.

Develop and disseminate norms and standards. Evidence-based technical recommendations are a cornerstone of the fight against malaria. Normative guidance supports the translation of evidence into action by aligning countries and partners under one common technical vision and strategic direction. The Global Malaria Programme has a core responsibility to guide the research agenda and analyse evidence that can inform global policy.
Stimulate the development and timely introduction of new tools and innovation. While more progress can be achieved with currently available tools, new interventions are needed to accelerate the gains and counter emerging threats. The Global Malaria Programme plays a critical key role in facilitating the evaluation and introduction of new malaria control tools and works closely with multiple partners to provide an evidence base to inform their effective scale-up.
Promote the use of strategic information for impact. The Global Malaria Programme’s work in monitoring, evaluating and reporting on trends in malaria burden, control and elimination drives priorities and decision-making at all levels – from in-country actors to international donors and other partners. WHO’s work also includes global and national equity monitoring as well as support for local barrier assessments to better understand who is missing out on malaria interventions.
Provide technical leadership of the global malaria response. WHO leads and coordinates the United Nations’ health agenda at both the country and global levels. The Organization has a core responsibility to convene key stakeholders, define and advocate for priority activities, and empower communities and individuals to access quality health services. The Global Malaria Programme embodies this core WHO function in the malaria ecosystem.

Guiding principles

The new operational strategy is guided by 3 equity-oriented principles:

Country ownership and leadership, with a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. Efforts to fight malaria must be fully owned and led by countries with adequate investment of domestic resources and a multisectoral response. A country-led response further promotes inclusive governance, accountability and specific interventions that are tailored to local contexts.
Resilient health systems to enable the success of national malaria responses. Ensuring the provision of malaria services relies on a strong primary health care system that can respond to emerging needs and provide quality care for all people, including those infected with malaria.
Equity in access to quality health services. All efforts to fight malaria should be rooted in the principles of equity, gender equity and human rights to ensure that the most vulnerable are protected and have access to quality health services, including malaria interventions and information.

Equity in access to malaria services is the focus of the year’s World Malaria Day under the theme: “Accelerating the fight against malaria for a more equitable world.” It is also a central tenet of the Yaoundé Declaration, signed in March 2024 by African Ministers of Health from some of the countries hardest hit by malaria.

In signing the declaration, Ministers committed, among other measures, to the aim of ensuring that all populations at risk of malaria consistently receive the appropriate tools – including those living in hard-to-reach areas and conflict humanitarian settings.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization (WHO).

HE President of the Republic of Seychelles Wavel Ramkalawan received the credentials of HE Mohammed bin Mutair Al Anazi, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Qatar (Non-resident) to the Republic of Seychelles.

HE the Ambassador conveyed HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani’s greetings and wishes of good health and happiness to HE the President of the Republic of Seychelles and the people of Seychelles continued progress and prosperity.

For his part, HE the President of the Republic of Seychelles entrusted HE the Ambassador with his greetings to HH the Amir, wishing His Highness good health and happiness and the State of Qatar further progress and growth. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The State of Qatar.