The 2019 Isdell:Flowers Cross Border Malaria Initiative Round Table: Community engagement in the context of malaria elimination

Abstract

Government officials, representatives from malaria endemic communities, and nonprofit, academic, and private sector partners convened at the 2019 Isdell:Flowers Cross Border Malaria Initiative Round Table in Livingstone, Zambia from February 28-March 1, 2019 to discuss the necessity of community engagement and the involvement of those directly affected by malaria in malaria elimination efforts. Participants shared practical examples and principles of successful community engagement over the course of the Round Table. Three core principles of effective community engagement emerged: (1) there is no "one size fits all" community engagement strategy, (2) community engagement must be a bidirectional activity, and (3) community members must be at the heart of malaria elimination efforts.