On the 25th of April 2000, African Heads of State and Government or their Senior Representatives from 44 malaria-endemic countries participated in the first-ever Africa Summit on Malaria, in Abuja, Nigeria. At the Summit, the leaders signed the historic Abuja Declaration committing governments to an intensive effort to halve the burden of malaria in Africa by 2010 and setting interim targets for the year 2005.

To highlight the gravity of the malaria situation on the continent, the leaders at the Summit also took the decision that 25 April of each year be commemorated as Africa Malaria Day (AMD). In 2002 Africa Malaria Day was commemorated under the theme "Mobilizing Communities to Roll Back Malaria". The theme for Africa Malaria Day 2003 is "Insecticide Treated Nets and Effective Malaria Treatment for Pregnant Women and Young Children by 2005" while the slogan is "Roll Back Malaria, Protect Women and Young Children".

This year's Africa Malaria Day is designed to bring the continent closer to the attainment of the 2005 Abuja targets and calls for action, as indicated in the theme and slogan, that targets the two highly vulnerable groups, pregnant women and children. In this regard, it urges African governments to vigorously promote policies and strategies designed to ensure availability, affordability and accessibility of ITNs to these vulnerable groups. Secondly, it urges African governments to ensure that antimalarial drugs are readily available at all levels of their health systems. It further calls on African governments to develop policies that encourage the management of fevers at home.

Yet efforts to obtain more rapid progress toward the attainment of the Abuja targets will come to little without concerted campaigns from all of us involved in the fight against malaria. Effective communications and advocacy campaigns around Africa Malaria Day are indeed a vital part of this effort. With this in mind, MAL/AFRO had proposed the following guidelines to help in-country teams ensure effective campaigns at AMD 2003. It is proposed that National Malaria Control Programmes (NMCPs) use these guidelines to come up with innovative approaches best suited to their own environments. These guidelines could also be used in possible work with national and community level RBM partners, perhaps through AMD 2003 committees, in preparation of national and community level commemoration of AMD 2003.