Let's keep the momentum!
Seasonal greetings and statement by RBM Executive Director
As we head into 2010 - the international deadline for providing universal access to malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment - let us mark the changes that we collectively helped create in global malaria control this year.
More people are averting and surviving malaria thanks to improved access to control interventions. WHO's World Malaria Report 2009 noted high impact of control interventions on malaria cases and deaths in an ever-longer list of countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. UNICEF reported a steady decline in child mortality over the last decade, highlighting the important contribution of malaria control to advancing the MDGs. As the number of malaria patients drops in endemic countries, overburdened health facilities are being freedto tackle other life-threatening illnesses.
More life-saving commodities reach endemic countries. Compared to 2008, 30% more nets (LLINs) and 12% more drugs (ACTs) were procured in Africa this year. Large-scale net distribution campaigns were conducted in Burkina Faso, Senegal, Burundi, Madagascar and Nigeria. An increased number of countries integrated indoor residual spraying in their national control efforts.
More funding is being committed to malaria control. With generous donor contributions through the Global Fund, the US President's Malaria Initiative, the World Bank, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNITAID and others, international funding for malaria efforts more than doubled over the past four years, reaching an estimated $2 billion. However, there still remains a significant gap to meet the annual requirements, projected in the Global Malaria Action Plan.
More countries have clear action plans for achieving universal coverage. Forty-five African countries charted their course to effective malaria control and elimination through developing detailed roadmaps for reaching universal coverage. The roadmaps will help monitor improvements, detect problems and remove the many obstacles that countries continue to face.
More efforts are being invested in research for new tools, better policies and more efficient implementation. Public-private partnerships are focusing on developing new drugs, insecticides, diagnostics and vaccines to sustain today's achievements in the future. The Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (MALERA) and the Malaria Elimination Group (MEG) are defining and taking forward the research agenda for elimination.
Tireless advocacy efforts keep malaria high on the global political and health agendas. New initiatives, including the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) and the United Against Malaria campaign around the 2010 World Football Cup, have created platforms for growing political will, engaging new partners and strengthening global commitment for action.
By choosing collective action over fragmentation and duplication, year after year, we have made these sweeping changes possible. We have come a long way but we are still at the beginning of our journey to malaria elimination.
The challenges that lie ahead are many and could threaten the success of our common endeavor. Acting boldly and decisively in the New Year to overcome outstanding difficulties, bridge the current funding gap and help countries implement their plans will draw the difference between making malaria history and letting history repeat itself.
I congratulate and thank all partners who have dedicated their time to driving and supporting the fight against malaria and the RBM partnership process. I wish you all the best in the New Year and I look forward to working with you on making the Global Malaria Action Plan a reality.
Prof Awa Marie Coll-Seck
RBM Executive Director