Aid Agency Supports Roll Back Malaria Plan, Urges Political Will to Match Global Investment
New York, Sept. 25, 2008-Unprecedented new investment and a coordinated plan for fighting malaria globally, announced today at a high-level meeting in New York, hold the promise of spurring victory against one of the top killers of children worldwide, World Vision said. The aid agency urges leaders around the world to summon up the political will to turn these proposals and funding commitments into action to end malaria.
Malaria kills more than 1 million people a year, 80 percent of whom are children. World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization working in 57 malaria-endemic countries, recently launched its own major initiative to boost prevention and treatment activities in hard-hit areas and strengthen advocacy to improve government policies and increase resources. Among the goals is to increase U.S. government funding to combat malaria internationally to at least $1 billion a year.
Rich Stearns, president of World Vision United States, today joined leaders of the Gates Foundation, Malaria No More and other partners in the fight at a high-level summit in New York where the Roll Back Malaria Partnership launched the Global Malaria Action Plan, a framework for coordinating efforts against the epidemic worldwide. In addition, participants announced more than $3 billion in funding commitments to help address this treatable and preventable disease.
"Everyone of us must do our part to help combat malaria whether we are leaders of a nation, heads of major corporations, or concerned Americans living in big cities or small rural communities," said World Vision's Stearns. "This is a disease that can be defeated."
"With the announcement today of new investment, we have taken a step in the right direction. But this must be followed with immediate action and strong coordination if it is to make a difference in the lives of the millions of children dying from this preventable cause. World Vision is committed to doing its part through our new malaria initiative," Stearns said.
Transmitted through mosquitoes, malaria is the fourth leading cause of death for children under five years in the developing world and is a top killer of children in sub-Saharan Africa. Roughly half of the world's population is at risk of contracting the disease.
New resources to combat malaria will go a long way to fill funding gaps and improve economic productivity. Global investment of between $3.8 to $4.5 billion - much higher than the current $1 billion a year - is necessary to adequately support anti-malaria activities and set the course for elimination of the disease, estimates show. The disease itself results in about $12 billion of lost economic productivity annually.
World Vision has committed itself over at least five years to increase private funding for anti-malaria activities, advocate for enhanced government commitments and build more corporate partnerships to alleviate the global burden caused by the disease. A wide range of existing anti-malaria activities will also be expanded, including distribution of long-lasting insecticide treated bed nets, community education about how to protect against infection, intermittent presumptive treatment for pregnant mothers, and access to anti-malarial drugs and referrals for patients.
To learn more about the impact of malaria on children, please visit: www.EndMalaria.org
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Betty Lakot rests on her hospital bed with her newborn baby at the Padibe health centre in Kitgum district 566km (339 miles) north of Uganda's capital Kampala, September 24, 2008. REUTERS/James ...
