MALARIA – a global crisis in the words of world leaders

…"There is no disputing the fact that African regeneration will remain impaired for as long as the scourge of malaria exists at current levels…we are made poor by malaria. The debt burden has exasperated that situation. This point cannot be over-emphasised. The gravity of the malaria problem with all its ramifications provide a strong case for the forgiveness of all African debts."

His Excellency Chief Olusegun Obasanjo,
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

…" In our struggle to fight malaria, roll it back from our continent and eradicate it entirely from our societies, one of the biggest obstacles has been our own internal weakness, lack of sustained and dedicated commitment, as well as improper attitudes. I believe that if we can overcome these qualities, we can succeed in dealing a deadly blow to malaria".

His Excellency Flt. Lt. Jerry Rawlings,
Former President of the Republic of Ghana

…"It heads the list of major endemic diseases that decimate the populations of Sub-Saharan Africa, causing desolation and hindering the development of the continent. In order to vanquish it the continent must mobilise all good will, all energy and initiatives…our struggle is immense. We shall win only by working together".

His Excellency Gen. Gnassingbe Eyadema,
President of the Togolese Republic

…"For too long the focus on malaria control has been almost exclusively on the health implications of the disease itself, without addressing some of the fundamental determinants of the continuing vulnerability of many communities to malaria. These include poverty, the inadequacy of health services and the poor accessibility of health services to those most in need. I believe this broad approach, which clearly recognises malaria as an important cause of poverty, may achieve better progress than the disease-limited focus of the past".

His Excellency Festus Mogae,
President of the Republic of Botswana

…" A child dying from malaria every 30 seconds is completely unacceptable when we have effective and affordable ways to help children and adults avoid infection. Incredibly, one out of four child deaths in Africa is due to malaria. Yet, insecticide treated bed nets can reduce mortality by up to 25 %. We need to help countries expand programmes to get nets and drugs for treatment to all women and children who are threatened by this silent crisis."

Dr. Carol Bellamy, Executive Director, UNICEF

…"We now have an extraordinary window of opportunity. We have governments, international organisations, NGOs and the private sector ready to work together to achieve agreed health goals and so contribute to prosperity. We have a potential for dramatic increases in resources for health, as a result, the number of malaria deaths can be halved by 2010…Together we must deliver on our promises, and so promote lasting development among Africa’s people".

Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland,
Director-General, World Health Organization

…" We would like to significantly increase the resources needed to address malaria through World Bank Roll Back Malaria financing. We estimate that we now have re-allocated somewhere between US$ 100-150 million for RBM activities in our Africa region health portfolio, a healthy amount already available for malaria at the country level. However, we can do much more. We estimate that we can finance an additional US$300-500 million for RBM action across Africa and we hope that the RBM partnership and the African leadership will be instrumental in specifically creating a demand for the World Bank operations in this direction. The resources can be deployed to increase the fight against malaria, but there has to be an explicit country-driven, country-owned and country-prioritisation in order to win that fight."