The workshop was part of a multidisciplinary training, targeted at doctoral candidates in Biomedical and Social Sciences and in particular at the candidates of the PhD programme on Malaria and Human Development. This new PhD programme, launched at UNICAM this year with the support of WHO, Global Malaria Programme and in collaboration with the Italian Malaria Network, aims at preparing young scientists, capable of fulfilling roles such as project coordinators, managers, administrators, science communicators, decision makers and, most important, trustable references for the political authorities in the malaria endemic countries.
 
The training workshop was attended by nineteen participants from all over the world:
The majority of the trainees were from African and Asian countries, namely Ethiopia, Kenya, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Ghana, India, China and Pakistan, a few from Europe (Italy) and USA (Florida). Most of the participants are UNICAM PhD students enrolled in the PhD programme on Malaria and Human Development (6) and other medicine related courses (11; chemistry, pharmaceutical science, biology).
 
The trainees could profit from a multi-disciplinary facilitator panel, composed by experts with bio-medical and social science background from malaria research and control institutions of different endemic countries, from WHO and from universities of the Italian Malaria Network. 
 
The training workshop, structured in plenary lectures and working group sessions, allowed the participants to acquire updated knowledge on antimalarial drugs, in particular on artemisinin combination therapies and on plant based traditional antimalarial treatments. A prominent part of the workshop was dedicated to the multifaceted problem of drug/treatment delivery to communities.  

Two weeks of animated discussions led to a general agreement among the participants that:

1. Every malaria control programme, to be successful, must be fine tuned with the local malaria illness perceptions and take account of the locally available, affordable or preferred treatment options.
2. The important role of traditional medicine must be recognized by health policy makers and it needs to be integrated into the national malaria control programmes. The home management of malaria strategy should encompass caregivers of both formal and informal health sectors.
3. Research efforts should be put into the validation of antimalarial remedies, collaboration with traditional healers’ associations strengthened and the development of improved standardized remedies should be promoted.
4. More advocacy and funding are needed to combat malaria, however endemic countries should direct their policies to raise internal resources (better control on natural resources, taxes on goods and services, health insurance systems) to reduce the dependence on unpredictable funding through international agencies. 
5. Each member of the malaria research community should speak-up at every occasion to increase and maintain public awareness on the huge dimension of the malaria burden, its impact on the socio-economic development of endemic countries and the human development of their populations.

We, the PhD malaria candidates, invite you very warmly to read our articles that we have written on the workshop key topics, reassuming the main discussion points and commenting on major problems and research needs.

___________________

Acknowledgements addressed by Prof. Cristina Miceli, director of the School of Advanced Studies Unicam