Statement by Professor Awa Marie Coll-Seck
Executive Director, Roll Back Malaria Partnership
First Working Session of the African Union
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
1 February, 2010
Distinguished Heads of State and Government, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am honoured to be here today and have the opportunity to convey the RBM Partnership's deep appreciation for your commitment to halting malaria in Africa and for the leadership that the African Union has shown in keeping this long-standing challenge high on national agendas.
RBM is grateful for your ALMA initiative and to the UN Special Envoy for Malaria, Ray Chambers, for all that he does every day to galvanize support for our work.
We have come a long way since the year 2000 when African Heads of State in Abuja committed to bold targets to stop this disease. Together, we have united the forces that can cause a rapid scale-up in malaria control and free the continent from the ravages of the disease.
- Work in partnership has brought new expertise and capacity to malaria control and generated a single global strategy for coordinated action - the Global Malaria Action Plan.
- High-level advocacy initiatives have created unprecedented global political and financial commitment to malaria.
- Focus on results has mobilized more funding and technical support for countries. It has enabled 45 African countries to translate the global malaria strategy into costed action plans and roadmaps for achieving universal coverage by 2010.
- Impact on malaria cases and deaths has been impressive in the past few years. A few African countries have already met their universal coverage targets - you will hear reports on country successes in the course of this afternoon.
The progress and results we have seen throughout the continent demonstrate that dramatically expanding access to malaria prevention and treatment in Africa is possible.
Now, no one will claim that universal coverage is not a tall order. But you, the leaders of Africa can make it happen.
If countries take ownership of national activities, if governments invest in health systems, in health workers, in infrastructure and in community involvement, the universal coverage goals will be met throughout Africa.
We in the RBM Partnership will support you and our partners in countries in every way we can.
I look forward to working with you today and in the future on making ALMA a success and our common vision of a malaria-free Africa a reality.
Thank you.