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Roll Back Malaria Partnership Suggests Decline in Malaria-Related Deaths is Fragile; Urges Greater Financial Commitment
Statement, 13.12.2011
Tweet13 December 2011, New York, USA Invited to speak at the noon press briefing at the United Nations, together with Dr. Rob Newman, Director of the WHO's Global Malaria Program and UN Special Envoy, Ray Chambers, Professor Awa Coll-Seck, Executive Director of the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership, made the following remarks regarding the WHO's 2011 World Malaria Report (released December 13, 2011):
The WHO's 2011 World Malaria Report, released today, shows that our efforts in the fight against malaria are working. Thanks to bold leadership and partnership, we're making significant progress and saving millions of lives. Malaria-specific mortality rates have declined by 5 percent in the past year and more than 25 percent in the past decade.
But much work remains. Despite gains, malaria still killed 655,000 people in 2010. Unless we maintain our commitment to scale-up the proven, cost-effective tools we have to prevent, diagnose and treat malaria, today's gains will be reversed and we will lose many more lives to this disease.
The road ahead will be challenging. Financing is expected to decrease in coming years, and the recent announcement that the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria may not be able to commit new funds until 2014 at the earliest and that they will cut existing grants by at least 25 percent could have devastating consequences. The Global Fund currently accounts for nearly two-thirds of global malaria financing, in addition to other donors like the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), the World Bank, the U.K. Department For International Development (DFID). We must urgently work together to find creative solutions to maximize the impact of available funding and secure new resources.
On behalf of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, I urge donor countries, including emerging economies, philanthropists and corporations to increase their commitment to malaria control efforts. And I also encourage endemic countries to step-up their commitments – if even 1% of domestic funding in these countries were made available for malaria control, the WHO report indicates that 75 countries would be able to provide access to an insecticide-treated net for each person at risk of malaria.
The tools we have are working – the WHO's report is proof of this. Now more than ever, we must work together – under the strong coordination of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership – to ensure effective and innovative financing continues to increase access to these tools while also meeting the challenges of drug and insecticide resistance, maintaining a pipeline of new tools, and helping to build stronger health systems to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
The problem is clear: unless we maintain our commitment, we will lose the progress we've made against malaria. And if we don't increase our investment, we are at great risk of not achieving the goals we've set.
This is why, today, on behalf of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership and in light of the promising, yet fragile numbers presented by the WHO, I call on the world for stronger commitment, new ideas and concrete action to help us continue to work toward a malaria-free world.
Contact:
Hervé Verhoosel
External Relations, RBM
+1 917 345 5238
Hverhoosel@whoun.org
Trey Watkins
External Relations, RBM
+1 347 931 0667
Kwatkins@whoun.org
Contact for the report:
Zsofia Szilagyi
WHO Global Malaria Programme
+41 79 500 6538
szilagyiz@who.int
Samantha Bolton
WHO Global Malaria Programme
+41 79 239 2366
samanthabolton@gmail.com