During the award ceremony of the federal cross on Thursday, April 7, the President & CEO of the Congolese Foundation for Medical Research – Professor Francine NTOUMI was called upon before the German Parliament (Bundestag). In her advocacy, she pleaded for innovative research tools on malaria as part of the celebration of the world day against this endemic disease.

During her solemn presentation, the President of the Congolese Foundation for Medical Research insisted on the need to support all local actors who on daily basis, are involved in the fight against malaria. She further expressed the wish that, with the quality of coordination and the bountiful funding highlighted for COVID-19, the same vigour would serve as an example to accelerate the fight against other infectious diseases that have a huge economic impact on African populations.

Although honoured by the German Parliament for this presentation, Professor Francine NTOUMI thinks that: “solutions must not always come from the ‘Northern countries.’ Our various African governments, especially countries wherein the disease is endemic, must take it as an imperative action to invest significantly in science in order to reach the 2030 targets of the World Health Organization's Global Malaria Strategy.”