Malaria is a preventable and treatable parasitic disease with a very bad reputation. It’s a known killer of especially young children in Africa. Fortunately this trend is slowly but surely being reversed through the efforts and interventions of many different organisations locally and globally.

Africa Malaria Day (AMD)

On 25 April 2000, government leaders from 44 African countries met in Abuja, Nigeria and signed the Abuja Declaration, committing their countries to decreasing malaria deaths in Africa with 50% by 2010. Since then, April 25 has been commemorated as Africa Malaria Day (AMD) worldwide. The overall theme, Free Africa from Malaria NOW! is a reminder of the effects of malaria and underscores the possibility that current measures might soon reduce the burden of malaria in Africa.

The Southern African Development Corporation (SADC) also decided to launch a campaign, namely the SADC Malaria Week from 7 to 13 November.

These campaigns have been set aside by African governments committed to combat malaria and meet the United Nations malaria-related millennium development goals. It is therefore an opportunity for the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) partnership in Africa to show solidarity with African countries battling against this scourge by supporting several events and activities around the world.

Malaria worldwide

    • 300 to 500 million people contract malaria annually
    • One million people die each year from malaria
    • Every 30 seconds someone dies from malaria.

Malaria in Africa

    • 90% of all malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa
    • 1 in 5 childhood deaths are caused by malaria
    • Malaria is responsible for a 1.3% decrease in growth per year in some African countries, due to loss in productivity
    • Malaria costs Africa more than $12 billion in lost GDP every year.

Worldwide commitment

In Africa, numerous countries organise events and activities to mark AMD and the SADC Malaria Week. In Europe, coalitions and alliances against malaria advocate with parliaments and other decision-makers. The malaria community in the United States highlights AMD and several cities in Canada hold awareness raising events.

The focus of the campaigns is the need to work in partnership to reverse the progression of malaria and make a significant impact in endemic countries.

The fight against malaria recently received renewed commitment and resources. The global fund (GF) to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, founded in 2002, is the largest source of funding for malaria control, providing two-thirds of all international financing. GF has approved $2.6 billion in grants over five years to programmes in 85 countries. Of this, $698 million has been disbursed to 33 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Progress has been made

Great progress has been made and some if not all of the United Nations malaria-related millennium development goals have been met, as explained below.

    • The substantial expansion of malaria interventions has led to a 42% decline in malaria mortality rates globally (49% across all age groups in the African region) and by 51% in children under 5 years of age.
    • In the decade since 2000, 3.3 million deaths from malaria were averted, and the lives of three million young children were saved.
    • Thanks to increased funding, more children are sleeping under insecticide-treated bed nets in sub-Saharan Africa. Also, 53% of all households in sub-Saharan Africa own at least one bed net and 90% of all people who have access to a net use it.

 

Sources

Malaria. Retrieved from; http://www.unicef.org/health/index_malaria.html
Millenium development goals and beyond 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/aids.shtml

 

Revised by M van Os