Backsliding in Malaria Funding Can Reverse Progress and Increase Lives Lost

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Apr 22, 2010, 04:59 ET

NEW YORK, April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- "To realize the real impact of investments in our fight against malaria, we must not only maintain current funding levels but actually increase them. If we don't, then the achievements we have made in providing malaria protection will be short lived," said Sunil Mehra, Executive Director of the UK-based Malaria Consortium.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100422/NY91744)

Mr. Mehra was co-hosting a reception held at the United Nations last night with the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership to mark World Malaria Day on April 25 and highlight the state of global malaria. The event featured leaders in the world of public policy and malaria control including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium and Prof. Awa Coll-Seck, Executive Director of RBM among others.

Malaria is a preventable and curable disease. Yet nearly 850,000 people each year, mainly pregnant women and children, die from it, and half of the world's population, some 3.3 billion people in 109 countries, are at risk of contracting the disease. It's also widely recognized that malaria control has a positive impact on all of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), with its biggest effect on reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating other diseases.

Fuelled by milestones set by the MDGs in 2000, there has been strong international funding and support for malaria prevention programs throughout 2009. A recent report authored by the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that this effort has yielded significant successes. An estimated 384,000 children's lives were saved in 12 countries through widespread distribution of mosquito nets, regarded as the best front line defense against malaria, and other malaria prevention tools since 2000. But WHO warned that we need to triple the $2 billion allocated for malaria at the end of 2009, to about $6 billion required annually to ensure universal coverage of malaria control interventions.

History shows that malaria control efforts must be sustained to be effective. Sri Lanka is an example of a country where malaria roared back after nearly being eliminated in 1963. But those eradication efforts were not sustained and by 1990 there were a quarter of a million cases. Fortunately malaria control was stepped up again and levels have dropped once more to just 673 cases reported in 2008.

"This is just one of many examples where diminished intensity in malaria control efforts can lead to disastrous results in terms of human suffering and the loss of lives," said Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, CEO of the Group, Vestergaard Frandsen, which is the leading producer of mosquito nets. "We've made such important progress toward controlling the spread of malaria these past few years. We can't afford to let funding backslide and threaten this progress," Mr. Vestergaard Frandsen added.

Some 250 guests attended the reception, which included a special viewing of the highly successful photographic exhibition Malaria: blood, sweat, and tears by award-winning photographer Adam Nadel. The exhibition showcases the complex relationships between malaria, poverty and the need for international support for combating the disease on a grand scale. The exhibition will be on display, free to the public, at the United Nations Main Gallery (entered through the Visitors Lobby, First Avenue at 46th Street) through April 26.

The exhibition was produced and conceived by the United Kingdom-based Malaria Consortium, the world's leading non-profit organization dedicated to comprehensive control of malaria, and photographer Adam Nadel. It was made possible with the generous support of Vestergaard Frandsen, a European-based company specializing in complex emergency response and disease-control products, including the PermaNet® long-lasting insecticidal net and net curtains to prevent vector-borne diseases like malaria. It was produced under the umbrella of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership which is the global framework for coordinated action against malaria.

For more information about Malaria Consortium visit www.malariaconsortium.org, about Roll Back Malaria Partnership visit www.rollbackmalaria.org, and about Vestergaard Frandsen, visit www.vestergaard-frandsen.com.