2,500- Kilometre River Challenge Spotlights Africa's Malaria Fight
Roll Back Malaria Zambezi Expedition launch in Cazombo, Angola, April 3rd

Geneva, Switzerland - 26 March 2008: The Roll Back Malaria partnership (RBM) announced today the launch of a 2,500 kilometer-long expedition down the Zambezi in Africa to spotlight malaria as a major public health problem in the region and rally political support for intensifying the fight against the disease.

Sponsored by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and many Roll Back Malaria partners, the RBM Zambezi Expedition will navigate its way through Angola, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, stopping in each country to take on board local malaria control staff and journalists for a fact-finding tour of remote river communities, exposed daily to life-threatening malaria parasites.

Malaria kills more than a million people worldwide each year—90 percent of them in Africa; 70 percent children under the age of five. Malaria, a preventable and treatable disease, causes loss of income and productivity on a scale large enough to slow a country's economic growth by as much as 1.3% per year.

The Zambezi river, which cuts through the SADC region, creates complex challenges and daunting obstacles which impede the progress of malaria control programs. Regular flooding, cross-border population movement, lack of health facilities, overburdened health workforce and missing infrastructure obstruct and delay the delivery of malaria prevention and treatment to those who need them most.

"This ambitious river expedition will bring home the need for a strong regional partnership to fight malaria," says Dr. Awa-Marie Coll-Seck, the Executive Director of Roll Back Malaria Partnership. "An effective cross-border collaboration which mobilizes communities in all six countries and has strong political backing is a recipe for success."

By diagnosing and treating malaria cases in local communities and raising awareness about malaria prevention and treatment, the Expedition will lay the groundwork for a trans-border malaria control initiative in the region - the "Trans-Zambezi project." The project proposal is currently being developed for submission this year to the Global Fund, the world's largest financier of malaria control programs. If successful, it will help to boost health, tourism and economic development in the Trans-Zambezi region.

A similar cross-border project, covering parts of Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland decreased malaria cases in the Lubombo region by 82% in the last four years - a success that paints a brighter future for the new Zambezi-wide initiative

The four inflatable boats carrying expedition leaders, crew and filmmakers will be launched early next week in a remote corner of Angola, land in Livingstone, Zambia to commemorate the first World Malaria Day on April 25th, and continue on to the mouth of the Zambezi in Mozambique by mid-May.

The Roll Back Malaria Zambezi Expedition is being sponsored by Coca Cola Africa Foundation, ExxonMobil, MACEPA, Medicines for Malaria Venture, Nets for Life, Novartis, Malaria No More, Sumitomo Chemical, UN Foundation, and Vestergaard-Frandsen.

The Roll Back Malaria Secretariat has facilitated support for the Zambezi Expedition organized by German journalist Helge Bendl and Swiss boating expert Andy Leemann.

The Roll Back Malaria Partnership (RBM) was launched in 1998 by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the United Nations Development Program, and the World Bank to provide cohesive and comprehensive support to countries burdened by malaria. The RBM Partnership has expanded exponentially since its launch and is now made up of a wide range of partners — including malaria-endemic countries, their bilateral and multilateral development partners, the private sector, nongovernmental and community-based organizations, foundations, and research and academic institutions — who bring a formidable assembly of expertise, infrastructure and funds into the fight against the disease.

A key role of the RBM Partnership is to lead continuing advocacy campaigns to raise awareness of malaria at the global, regional, national and community levels, thus keeping malaria high on the development agenda, mobilizing resources for malaria control and for research into new and more effective tools (including vaccine), and ensuring that vulnerable individuals are key participants in rolling back malaria.

Pru Smith
smithp@who.int
+41 79 477 1744

Hervé Verhoosel
verhooselh@who.int
+ 41 79 701 9480

Helge Bendl, Expedition Leader
Tel: +49 (0) 178 44 890 44
helge.bendl@zambezi-expedition.org
www.zambezi-expedition.org