About PacMISC

While countries in the developed world largely conquered malaria in the 1950s and 1960s, the disease is still a major public health threat and responsible for around one million deaths every year in developing countries. WHO estimates that worldwide, one child dies every 30 seconds from malaria. The University of Queensland is at the forefront of renewed global efforts to eliminate malaria, thanks to an AusAID-funded support centre established at the School of Population Health.

The Pacific Malaria Initiative Support Centre (PacMISC) is part of a $25 million AusAID commitment to intensified malaria control and progressive elimination in the South-West Pacific, focussing specifically on the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Based at the School of Population Health, the Support Centre is a consortium between three Brisbane-based institutions.

  • The School of Population Health, University of Queensland (SPH UQ)
  • the Australian Army Malaria Institute (AMI)
  • the Queensland Institute for Medical Research (QIMR)

Together, members of this consortium are providing highly-flexible, focused and demand-driven technical and program management assistance to the National Malaria Control Programs in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, for example:

  • PacMISC supported the Ministry of Health in both countries to undertake two of the largest malaria assessment surveys ever conducted in Melanesia in preparation for the malaria elimination programs in Tafea Province, Vanuatu (May 2008) and in Temotu Province, Solomon Islands (November 2008)
  • PacMISC assisted the Ministry of Health in Solomon Islands to investigate the acceptability of different types of insecticide-treated bednets in a cluster randomised controlled trial completed in late 2008 that is now informing national policy.

PacMISC's founding Technical Director, Dr Andrew Vallely, said:

We believe that malaria elimination in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu is achievable: important new tools have recently become available that mean we now have a strong technical and scientific foundation for this optimism. These include simple rapid diagnostic tests that can be used at community level; highly effective artemisinin-based drug therapy and long-lasting insecticide treated bednets.

This is only part of the answer of course - our priority is to assist partner countries to build their human resource base and health system infrastructure to be able to effectively use these new tools and to meet the challenge of elimination. Part of this challenge is to generate and capture support for malaria elimination at all levels from the national political arena to community level.

PacMISC is assisting partners to engage with a variety of community-based organisations, women's groups, churches and other civil society groups to ensure that key components of the expanded malaria program in each country are implemented in ways which engage community stakeholders and which are locally-appropriate and acceptable to communities.

PacMISC Contacts

The Pacific Malaria Initiative Support Centre is based at the

School of Population Health
The University of Queensland
Room 338, Edith Cavell Building
RBWH, Herston Qld 4006, Australia
Ph: +61 7 334 64654 Fax: +61 7 336 55599

For more information please contact:
ProjectOfficer@pacmisc.net