THE ROLL BACK MALARIA MOVEMENT

Malaria, a curable and preventable disease, kills more than a million people a year, most of them in extremely poor communities, and most of them young children. Often neglected among the major killers in developing countries, malaria has an insidious and far-reaching effect not only on health but on economic and social development. In addition to the direct costs of treatment and prevention, malaria is responsible for significant losses in productivity and undermines educational achievement.

However, effective tools to combat malaria do exist. Prompt access to appropriate treatment and the use of effective prevention measures like insecticide treated bed nets can easily save hundreds of thousands of lives each year. Roll Back Malaria’s objective is to harness the political will and help to create the necessary economic and social conditions for those tools to be widely used by all communities affected by malaria, especially the poorest.

Malaria endemic countries, the international community and some private sector companies are now working together to reach a specific target : Halving the world’s malaria burden by 2010. Reaching that goal will continue to require sustained high level political commitment, mobilization of substantial additional resources and increased action from a broad range of actors.

The Roll Back Malaria partnership was founded by the World Health Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Bank. It includes governments, development agencies, commercial organizations, professional associations, civil society, research groups and the media. It works in all malaria endemic countries and relies on up-to-date technical systems and expertise in malaria control and treatment.

Roll Back Malaria seeks to reduce the burden of malaria by providing particular support to four types of interventions, which have been shown to reduce illness and death.

• Early diagnosis and prompt treatment
• Insecticide treated bed nets and vector control, in order to kill and repel mosquitoes before they bite
• Malaria treatment for pregnant women to reduce the impact of malaria infection on their own health and on the health and development of their children
• Prevention and response to epidemics

The Roll Back Malaria movement uses the following tools to ensure that these interventions are adopted on a wide scale.

• Health system strengthening and improvement
• Community mobilization, empowering the communities most affected by malaria to take action and improve their situation
• Partnerships through the involvement of governments, civil society and the private sector to find ways to provide better use of resources

Roll Back Malaria is a global partnership supporting efforts to tackle malaria wherever it occurs. However, as 90 % of malaria deaths are occurring in Africa, Roll Back Malaria is giving particular priority to Africa to ensure maximum rapid progress.

The foundation for Roll Back Malaria was solidly laid one year ago when

African Heads of State signed the Abuja Declaration which called for governments to initiate appropriate and sustainable action to strengthen their health systems so that by the year 2005:

• at least 60 % of those suffering from malaria have prompt access to affordable and effective appropriate treatment within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms
• at least 60 % of those at risk of malaria, particularly pregnant women and children under five years of age, benefit from insecticide-treated mosquito nets and other interventions which are accessible to prevent infection and suffering
• at least 60 % of all pregnant women who are at risk of malaria have access to chemoprophylaxis or preventive intermittent treatment