Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the GMBP

What is the Global Malaria Business Plan?
The 13th RBM Board in Addis Ababa endorsed the development of one integrated Global Malaria Business Plan (GMBP) by the RBM Partnership. The the aim of the GMBP is to define the RBM partnership's vision, goals and strategy as well as the concrete actions needed to achieve them. It will reinforce the current "Scaling Up For Impact" strategy and strong momentum towards the 2010 RBM goals. It will also help define a longer-term strategy towards elimination and possibly eradication for the RBM Partnership. By strategically prioritizing activities and coordinating the responsibilities of partners it will help ensure maximum impact against malaria. By creating and consolidating the information required for advocacy it will support resourcing efforts.

How will the GMBP be developed?
The GMBP is being developed under the leadership of the RBM Board, with Executive Committee guidance. The development will rely heavily on the competencies of current RBM structures – Working Groups (WG), Sub-regional networks (SRNs), Taskforces (TF) and Secretariat – as well as contributions from the numerous RBM Partner institutions and external experts. Each group will be responsible for developing specific sections which will be integrated in the overall plan through coordinating meetings. The GMBP will be based on strong country input through the incorporation of work by the Harmonization Working Group (HWG) / Malaria Implementation Support Team (MIST) and Sub-Regional Networks (SRNs), as well as countries directly.

What is the scope of the GMBP?
As the name suggests, the GMBP will be a global plan. It will include all countries affected by malaria: in Asia and the Americas as well as in Africa. Because of this, the plan will cover all types of human malaria (P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae and P. ovale).

Is the GMBP a strategic plan or a business plan?
The GMBP will be a combination of both. It will be based on the work done by the RBM Partnership (eg. Global Strategic Plan 2005-2015, 2008 Harmonized Workplan) to articulate the short-term strategy supported by partners of scaling-up for impact into a broader strategy that needs to be defined going towards elimination. The plan will also detail the activities that the RBM Partnership needs to do to achieve the short-term targets and to lay the ground for the medium and long-term objectives of the Partnership. Like a business plan, the GMBP will estimate the costs needed to accomplish the strategy and help the partnership to outline its milestones and performance goals.

When will the GMBP be ready?
The RBM Partnership is currently working to define the content of the plan. A preliminary draft of the GMBP will be presented at the 14th RBM Board Meeting on the 15-16th May 2008 in Geneva, focusing on the baseline of international and country activities and the global strategy. Work will continue following the Board to outline activities of the RBM Partnership and partner institutions to achieve the strategy toward the end of 2008.

Discussion Forums

Share your perspective on the development of the GMBP. Join the open Discussion Forum teleconferences held by the GMBP Core Team following each newsletter to discuss issues raised in the newsletter. If there are specific questions you would like to discuss, please write to the following address (gmbpcomments@who.int) so that they can be added to the topics for the Discussion Forum. This will keep you updated about developments held in other groups.

Discussion 1: 14th February 2008 from 3.00 to 4.00 PM CET (See dial-in details)
Main topics / questions on the Agenda
Introduction to the GMBP and discussion on the outline of the plan
Download presentation [in English] [en français]
Minutes of the Discussion Forum 1

Discussion 2: 18th March 2008 from 4.30 to 5.30 PM CET (See dial-in details)
Main topics / questions on the Agenda
Discussion on country approach
Download the presentation
Minutes of the Discussion Forum 2

Discussion 3: Late April (See dial-in details)
The date and topic of the next discussion will be sent in the coming weeks through RBM Alert