Ministers of Health from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have united to tackle drug-resistant malaria threatening the region.

At a recent meeting, the ministers endorsed the 2025 SADC Malaria Report, which stresses on protecting the efficacy of current antimalarial drugs.

Drafted by the Mitigating Antimalarial Resistance Consortium in South-East Africa (MARCSE Africa) a partner of the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Research Programme alongside the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership to End Malaria and national malaria programmes, the report calls for a SADC Regional Coordination Committee, enhanced data sharing among countries, and a unified regional strategy against resistance.

As MARCSE Africa notes, “This information is essential for monitoring the effectiveness of antimalarial drugs, but its availability in southern Africa remains limited.”

In addition, the SADC ministers have agreed to strengthen data-sharing systems, ensuring rapid exchange of efficacy outcomes, epidemiology data, parasite genetic surveillance, and national treatment policies for swift responses to emerging trends.

Recognising collaboration’s power, they (ministers) committed to launching the SADC Regional Coordination Committee to counter antimalarial resistance by pooling resources, including laboratory and computational (bioinformatics) expertise.

For the first time, the 2025 report features a dedicated section on antimalarial drug resistance a key acknowledgment of the threat and a signal of the region’s resolve for decisive action.