DEPARTMENT FOR
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT News Release issued by COI News
Distribution Service. 25 September 2008
Funding to support
ambitious new Global Malaria Action Plan to reduce malaria deaths
in Africa to near zero by 2015
New York, September 25, 2008 - World leaders gathered today at
the 2008 Millennium Development Goals Malaria Summit to endorse an
ambitious new Global Malaria Action Plan and commit nearly $3
billion toward reducing the number of malaria deaths to near zero
by 2015.
Leaders at the event, including Ban Ki-moon, UN
Secretary-General; Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister; Paul
Kagame, President of Rwanda; Jakaya Kikwete, President of
Tanzania; Ray Chambers, UN Special Envoy for Malaria; Margaret
Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization; Peter
Chernin, President and COO of News Corporation and Chairman of
Malaria No More; Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation; and Bono, Lead Singer of U2 and Co-Founder of
the ONE Campaign, hailed recent progress against malaria and said
that far greater gains can be achieved in the coming years.
The funding commitments will support rapid implementation of the
Global Malaria Action Plan, an unprecedented new strategy, which
was launched today by the Roll Back Malaria Partnership with the
broad support of a united malaria community. Developed with input
from more than 250 malaria experts, the Global Malaria Action Plan
is the first-ever comprehensive blueprint for global malaria
control. The Plan demonstrates that by achieving the
Secretary-General's call for full coverage of malaria
interventions by 2010, it is possible to save more than 4.2
million lives by 2015 and lay the foundation for a longer term
effort to eradicate the disease.
"With more than one million people dying from malaria every
year, today's launch is a real and vital turning point,"
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said. "It brings together
a new coalition of forces - government, the private sector and
NGOs - to ensure we all rise to the challenge of eradicating
malaria deaths by 2015."
Record Commitments to Accelerate Malaria Control and Research
The new commitments announced today, totaling around $3 billion, include:
* Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: $1.62
billion over two years in new grants for malaria submitted to its
Board for approval in November, including plans for distribution
of 100 million additional bed nets.
* World Bank: $1.1 billion to expand the Malaria Booster Program,
which supports the rapid scale-up of malaria programs in Africa.
* Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: $168.7 million to the
PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative for research on a new generation
of malaria vaccines.
* UK Department for International Development: £40 million
pledge to support the Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria,
which the UK encourages the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria to host. Additionally, commitment to an
increase in malaria R&D funding to at least £5 million per
year by 2010 and to provide 20 million of the 125 million bed nets
that are needed to close the global bed net gap.
* Marathon Oil / Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB, and
Malaria / Equatorial Guinea: $28 million co-investment - including
the largest-ever corporate commitment to malaria in Africa - from
Clarence Cazalot, CEO of Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS,
TB, and Malaria member Marathon Oil, its business partners and
Equatorial Guinea President Obiang Nguema to extend a highly
successful nationwide malaria control program. The commitment lays
a solid foundation for a capital campaign orchestrated by GBC,
Malaria No More and the UN Foundation to leverage the leadership
of the world's most prominent business leaders to raise $100
million by the end of 2010.
* UN High Commission for Refugees / United Nations Foundation: $2
million grant to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) to meet the urgent need for long-lasting,
insecticide-treated bed nets in temporary refugee camps across
Africa. Working together, in 2008-2009, the partnership will
distribute these bed nets in eight African countries, including
Cote d'Ivoire and the Central African Republic in 2008.
* Sesame Workshop / Mattel / Malaria No More: $2 million program
to provide Sesame-themed malaria education materials to children
and parents along with bed nets in Tanzania and Zambia.
"As a businessman, I firmly believe that no other cause
offers the same potential return on investment as malaria,"
said Peter Chernin, President and Chief Operating Officer of News
Corporation and Chairman of Malaria No More. "The support
committed by the public and private sectors today will go a long
way to defeating this disease and unlocking the potential of Africa."
On World Malaria Day in April 2008, UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon called for universal coverage with proven malaria tools by
the end of 2010, and appointed Ray Chambers as the UN Special
Envoy for Malaria to mobilize global support for action on the disease.
"To halt and reverse the incidence of malaria is not only a
specific Millennium Development Goal, it is also essential to
improving maternal and child health, improving education and
significantly reducing poverty," Chambers said.
Global Malaria Action Plan Provides New Blueprint for Success
The Global Malaria Action Plan lays out a detailed course of
action to dramatically reduce malaria by achieving three goals:
* Short term: Reduce deaths and illness from malaria by half
from 2000 levels, by scaling up access to bed nets, indoor
spraying, diagnosis and treatment, including preventive treatment
for pregnant women, for all in need by 2010
* Medium term: Reduce the number of malaria deaths to near zero
by 2015, through sustained universal coverage with proven
anti-malaria tools
* Long term: Maintain near-zero deaths worldwide while
eliminating malaria transmission in key countries, with the
ultimate goal of eradicating malaria completely with new tools and strategies
"The Global Malaria Action Plan is a milestone in the
international response to malaria," said Professor Awa Marie
Coll-Seck, Executive Director of the Roll Back Malaria
Partnership. "We have had isolated accomplishments over the
years, but this is the first time we have drawn together those
experiences to produce guidelines to replicate success globally.
Putting the plan into action must now become our number one priority."
Fully implementing the GMAP will require $5.3 billion in 2009
worldwide ($2.2 billion for Africa) and $6.2 billion worldwide in
2010 ($2.86 billion for Africa) to expand malaria control
programs, and an additional $750-900 million per year is needed
for research on vaccines, drugs and other new tools.
"Malaria control programs are achieving impressive new
gains, and scientific innovation could soon give us powerful new
vaccines and drugs," said Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation. "If we build on this
momentum, we can save millions of lives and chart a long-term
course for eradication of this disease."
The African Union has made fighting malaria a top priority,
recognizing that the disease affects millions of Africans and
costs the continent an estimated $12 billion each year in direct
losses, but much more than that in lost economic growth when
examined over the long term.
"So many of our nations have been crippled by malaria,"
said Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda. "African nations are
united in fighting this disease through the Global Malaria Action
Plan, and we commit to ensuring that expanded funding will be well used."
Data released last week by the World Health Organization show the
potential of malaria control to save lives: Between 2000 and 2006,
25 countries with large-scale malaria control programs reported
reductions in malaria deaths of 50% or more. Worldwide, access to
proven malaria tools is at an all-time high, according to the report.
Below are links to the Web sites of the various partner organizations:
* UK Department for International Development: http://www.dfid.gov.uk
* Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: http://www.gatesfoundation.org
* Malaria No More: http://www.malarianomore.org
* Roll Back Malaria Partnership: http://www.rollbackmalaria.org
Source: Office of the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy
on Malaria / Roll Back Malaria Partnership
Contact:
Erica McAlpine, Chief Press Officer, Department for
International Development +44 (0)20 7023 0600
Note: Separate press releases with additional details are
available for the Global Malaria Action Plan and many of the
funding commitments listed.