As Tanzania plays host to UN delegates in Dar es Salaam today for the
launch of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a new initiative for
eradicating malaria by 2040 was unveiled yesterday.
It is contained in a report called ‘From Aspiration to Action:
What Will It Take to End Malaria?’ The report was released in New York
by Bill Gates, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and
Ray Chambers, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Financing the
Health Millennium Development Goals for Malaria.
It urges major donors and malaria-affected countries to commit themselves more to the fight against malaria.
If achieved, eradication of malaria could save 11 million lives and
unlock USD2 trillion in economic benefits, the report says.
It aspires to use new approaches, including early elimination
successes in Hispaniola, southern Africa and the Greater Mekong
Sub-region of Southeast Asia.
“Over the past 15 years we have seen tremendous progress in
reducing the burden of malaria globally – a direct result of our
collective action—and we now stand in the unique position of putting an
end to this disease forever,” said Ray Chambers, cautioning:
“The next five years are vital for setting in motion an ambitious-yet-achievable plan to eradicate malaria by 2040.
“We must double our commitment and move with deliberate haste to
bring in new investments, develop new tools and implement new regional
strategies to see our unified goal of a malaria-free world become a
reality.”
In recent years, global investment in malaria has jumped by 2000%
annually – from a mere $130 million in 2000 to $2.7 billion in 2013.
These resources have fundamentally transformed the fight against the
disease.
Malaria deaths have fallen dramatically – saving an estimated 6.2
million lives and averting 663 million cases of the disease since 2000 –
and more than half of the world’s nations are now malaria free.
These gains have accounted for 20% of the total progress that the
world has made in reducing maternal and child mortality under the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
They have also helped convince Asian and African leaders to commit to malaria elimination by 2040.
According to Gates and Chambers, the challenge is that one billion
people remain infected with the malaria parasite Further, half of the
world’s children remain vulnerable to death and disability caused by the
disease. Malaria still kills about one child every minute.
They argue that eradication is ultimately the only feasible
solution to this challenge. They also assert that the alternative to
eradication – controlling the disease forever without eliminating it –
is biologically and politically untenable.
“Eradication is the only sustainable solution to malaria,” said Gates, adding:
“The alternative would be endless investment in the development of
new drugs and insecticides just to stay one step ahead of resistance.
The world can’t afford that approach.”SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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