Issue No 1 March 2000
GREETINGSDear Colleagues,
Welcome to this our first news bulletin on the African Summit on Roll Back Malaria. This ground-breaking Summit for African Heads of State is to be held in Abuja, Nigeria on 25th April 2000. It will be preceded by a Technical Meeting on the afternoon of Easter Monday 24th April, also in Abuja. This bulletin gives you all the information currently available about the Summit, and details of how to contact us if you have any questions. On behalf of the Roll Back Malaria teams in Geneva, Harare, Cairo, Lagos and Abuja, I look forward to hearing from you.
With best wishes,
Dr David Nabarro
Project Manager, Roll Back Malaria
AFRICAN LEADERSHIP
Why is this malaria summit being held? What prompted it?
In the past decade, Africa's leaders have called for concerted action to address the impact of malaria on their people. In June 1997, African Heads of State signed the Harare Declaration on Malaria. This was followed by the African Initiative on Malaria (AIM), which was endorsed by the African Region of the World Health Organization in 1998. The World Bank, the African Development Bank, WHO, UNICEF and UNDP have responded and were supported by several member nations of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) thereby, accelerating malaria control efforts throughout the continent.
Renewed backing for malaria control by WHO began with the election of Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway, as Director General of WHO in 1998. She committed the organization to intensified support of malaria control - especially in Africa, and through her leadership the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) initiative was launched by WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank and UNDP on October 28, 1998. Partnerships between Governments, development agencies and private groups are now supporting RBM action in more than 20 countries.
SUCCESSFUL SITUATIONS
More vigorous action is needed, particularly in communities within tropical Africa. Success has been reported in situations where Governments work closely with other bodies, both public and private, in movements to Roll Back Malaria.
NIGERIA LEADS THE WAY
African Heads of State are now providing the political leadership required of RBM movements. In particular, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria proposed in 1999, that an African Summit on Malaria be held and offered to host the Summit with the date set for April 25, 2000, in Abuja, Nigeria. The President has invited WHO and other development partners to work with the Nigerian Government to plan the Summit. At the Summit, Heads of State will reflect on the economic and social burden of malaria and commit themselves to strategies and targets for its reduction.
VIP PARTICIPANTS
More that 50 African Heads of State, G8 Heads of State, the Heads of 10 international development agencies, and more that 12 Development and Health Ministers from OECD countries have been invited to the Summit, and many have already accepted.
BEATING THE BURDEN
Malaria causes more than one million deaths each year. The majority who die are the children of Africa. Deaths linked to malaria in Africa are on the increase due to changes in climate, movement of populations arising from political instability and civil strife, resistance of malaria to common and inexpensive medicines, resistance of mosquitoes to insecticides, and limitations in national health services.
POVERTY
Malaria keeps Africa's people poor. It prevents adults from working and children from attending school. Each year a family spends several months' earnings on malaria treatment and prevention. Malaria turns pregnancy, a normal life process, into a nightmare, in which the mother may die or her baby born too small to survive.
TOWARDS A SOLUTION
It does not have to be like this. Malaria is preventable, treatable and curable. Four elements of the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) strategy point to a solution:
PEOPLE NEED PARTNERS
But, people cannot prevent and treat malaria alone. Governments, health services and all development partners must make sure that low cost mosquito nets, genuine and inexpensive medicines, and timely and accurate information about malaria are available in every neighbourhood and village.
PEOPLE AND PLANNING
Intensive planning is in progress with input from various African Countries and international agencies. A high-level inter-governmental steering committee meets weekly in Abuja, Nigeria. Several subcommittees including a Technical Committee and a Publicity Committee have been established. A Summit Secretariat has been set up to meet the needs of invited dignitaries and guests. A Summit venue with capacity for 1000 persons is being prepared. A communication campaign to highlight the aims of the Summit is underway.
COMMITMENT TO CITIZENS
The Technical Committee is developing scientific papers on various aspects of malaria in Africa. These papers will form the basis of a Declaration that will be considered by African Heads of State at the Summit. In general terms, the Declaration will call for a re-commitment to the intent and goals of the Harare Declaration and a renewed commitment to Rolling Back Malaria. Specific issues that the Heads of State will address include alleviating poverty through reducing the burden of malaria on the citizens of Africa, setting realistic targets based on the four elements of the RBM strategy, supporting needed research that will make RBM strategies more effective, and encouraging development partners to work with governments and communities to mobilise and better manage the financial and human resources needed to Roll Back Malaria.
TIME TO ACT
Heads of State will also be called upon to adopt an Plan of Action based on the provisions of the Declaration and to commit themselves to the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Plan of Action. To this end, the Declaration and Plan of Action will be submitted to the Organization for African Unity (OAU) for adoption at its next General Assembly.
MALSUM IN THE NEWS
News Agency of Nigeria, Abuja, 14.1.2000
"The Federal Government of Nigeria has released N100 million (USD 1 million) towards the successful hosting of the Summit of African Heads of State on Roll Back Malaria…Minister of Health Dr Tim Menakaya said that 30 % of childhood mortality was attributable to malaria in Nigeria. He added that more than 50 per cent of outpatients in the country's hospitals were treated for malaria-related cases. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that the idea of the Summit is the initiative of President Olusegun Obasanjo."
MALARIA IN THE NEWS
CNN 22.2.2000
President Clinton speaking with President Nelson Mandela on the occasion of the Burundi peace talks:
"Just last week I attended the opening in Washington of our National Summit on Africa…All came because they believe in Africa's promise, and because they want to work with Africans to realise it…by lifting the burden of debt, by supporting education in Africa and fighting malaria…"
FIND OUT MORE
Further information can be obtained from:
Director, Primary Health Care and Disease Control
Federal Ministry of Health
Abuja, Nigeria
Tel/fax: 234 (0)9 523 8190; Tel: 234 (0)90 404490
Email: phcdc@inet-global.com
Roll Back Malaria
Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: +41 (22) 791 2394
Fax: +41 (22) 791 4824
Email: rbm@who.int
On the Internet: www.who.int/rbm
Roll Back Malaria Summit Team
Professor Obi Nwaorgu & Norma Johnston
Abuja, Nigeria
Tel: c\o Sheraton Hotel 234 9 523 0225
Fax: 234 9 5231570
Email: nwaorgu@who.ch; johnstonn@who.ch