U.N. Seeks Global Help in Fighting African Malaria
A new U.N. campaign launched on World Malaria Day on Friday aims to ensure that all Africa has access to basic malaria control measures, after several of the hardest hit countries are failing to contain malaria outbreaks.
The World Health Organization estimates malaria kills 1.3 million people each year, mostly children under age 5, and according to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, some African countries have fallen behind in fighting the disease.
"In recent years, several African countries have made dramatic strides in malaria control, but the most affected nations remain off track to reach the goal of halting and reversing the incidence of the disease," Ban said.
He said the country needs to take desperate measures to step up efforts to roll back malaria.
More than 40 percent of the world’s population in more than 100 countries is at risk of catching the mosquito-borne disease””including much of Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. However, Malaria kills most of its victims in sub-Saharan Africa.
Ban has enlisted all of Africa to establish sufficient malaria clinics and preventative treatment centers for high-risk pregnant women and to have enough mosquito nets or quality household sprays for the entire population by December 31, 2010.
He says this initiative will offer indoor residual spraying, and bed nets treated with long-lasting insecticide, to all people at risk, especially women and children in Africa.
“Malaria is a curable and preventable disease,” said Ann Veneman, director of the U.N. Children’s Fund. She cited the distribution of insecticidal nets in Ethiopia and Kenya.
"These successes show what can be achieved with concerted action," Veneman said. "But with an estimated 800,000 African children still dying from malaria every year, it is clear that much remains to be done."
Bouts of malaria hit many Africans several times a year, resulting in debilitating sickness that effect jobs and work.
The illness costs Africa over $12 billion a year in gross domestic product, even though the fund says it could be controlled for a fraction of that amount, according to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The WHO’s Commission on Macroeconomics and Health claim up to $2 billion is needed a year to halve the burden of malaria by 2010. There is currently an annual shortfall of $1.4 billion.
The fight against malaria has proven remarkably resilient, resurging because of the emergence of drug-resistant parasites and insecticide-resistant mosquitoes, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
The WHO said climate change may worsen health crises like malaria in many countries already strained by inadequate hospitals, fewer medical staff and uneven access to drugs.
New patterns of global rainfall, droughts and storms could accelerate the spread of diseases like malaria and dengue fever, creating serious problems for poor nations.
Ban says anti-malaria activities can only be successful through increased support from aid agencies and non-governmental organizations.
"We have the resources and the know-how, but we have less than 1,000 days before the end of 2010," he said.
Reversing the trend toward a constant increase in the incidence of malaria, HIV/AIDS, and other diseases is one of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals aimed at halving poverty and improving the quality of life worldwide by 2015.
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