World leaders have committed nearly $3 billion in an ambitious new plan to reduce malaria deaths to near zero in Africa by 2015.
The funding commitments, made at the Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York, will support rapid implementation of the Global Malaria Action Plan launched by the Roll Back Malaria Partnership.
With input from 250 malaria experts, the plan is the first-ever comprehensive blueprint for global malaria control and could save more than 4.2 million lives by 2015.
“With more than one million people dying from malaria every year, this is a real turning point,” said Prime Minister Gordon Brown. “It brings together a new coalition of forces – government, the private sector and NGOs – to ensure we all rise to the challenge of eradicating malaria deaths by 2015.” The Global Malaria Action Plan aims to dramatically reduce malaria by achieving three goals:
- Short term: Reduce deaths and illness from malaria by half from 2000 levels, by scaling up access to bed nets, indoor spraying, diagnosis and treatment, including preventive treatment for pregnant women, by 2010.
- Medium term: Reduce the number of malaria deaths to near zero by 2015, through sustained universal coverage with proven anti-malaria tools.
- Long term: Maintain near-zero deaths worldwide while eliminating malaria transmission in key countries, with the ultimate goal of eradicating malaria completely with new tools and strategies.
“The Global Malaria Action Plan is a milestone in the international response to malaria,” said Professor Awa Marie Coll-Seck, Executive Director of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership. “We have had isolated accomplishments over the years, but this is the first time we have drawn together those experiences to produce guidelines to replicate success globally. Putting the plan into action must now become our number one priority.”
“The African Union has made fighting malaria a top priority, recognising that the disease affects millions of Africans and costs the continent an estimated $12 billion each year in direct losses, but a great deal more in lost economic growth over the long term. “So many of our nations have been crippled by malaria,” said Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda. “African nations are united in fighting this disease through the Global Malaria Action Plan, and we commit to ensuring that expanded funding will be well used.”
Data released by the World Health Organisation show the potential of malaria control to save lives: between 2000 and 2006, 25 countries with large-scale malaria control programmes reported reductions in malaria deaths of 50% or more. Worldwide, access to proven malaria tools is at an all-time high, according to the report. On World Malaria Day in April 2008, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for universal coverage with proven malaria tools by the end of 2010, and appointed Ray Chambers as the UN Special Envoy for Malaria to mobilise global support for action on the disease. “To halt and reverse the incidence of malaria is not only a specific Millennium Development Goal,” said Chambers, “it is also essential to improving maternal and child health, improving education and significantly reducing poverty.”
The new commitments
Totaling around $3 billion, these include:
• Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – $1.62 billion over two years including plans for distribution of 100 million additional bed nets.
• World Bank – $1.1 billion to expand the Malaria Booster Programme.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – $168.7 million to the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative for research on a new generation of malaria vaccines.
• DFID – £40 million to support the Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria.
