Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides Service) - Four years ago on 25 April 2000 African leaders from 44 malaria-endemic countries met in Abuja, in Nigeria, for the first African Summit on Malaria. At the end of the Summit they signed the historic Declaration of Abuja which commits government to an intensive effort to halve the burden of malaria in Africa by 2010 and set interim targets for the year 2005.
To highlight to critical situation in Africa where 90% of deaths for malaria are registered, on that occasion the Summit members declared April 25 “Africa Malaria Day”.
The theme for the Day this year is “Malaria Free Future” since thousands of children mostly under five, are affected by malaria. Every year at least one million children in Africa die of malaria and hundreds of millions remain with serious after effects. Malaria kills 3,000 children every day.
Malaria is by far the leading cause of death in the Senegalese region of Matam where this year, the main events of the Day will take place. Matam is also a pilot region for an international schools-based project to promote healthy-behaviours among children, including protection against malaria.
More than 600 million people most of them children living in sub-Saharan Africa face the daily threat of death because new, effective treatments are not available where they live. Existing cheaper medicines which have been used for many years are not longer effective in most places because the malaria parasite has developed resistance to them.
To provide a co-ordinated international approach to fighting malaria, the Roll Back Malaria Global Partnership (RBM) i 1998 was launched by WHO UNICEF, UNDP and the World Bank. The Partenrship’s goal it to halve the burden of malaria by 2010 with particular focus on Africa.
In 2002, the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria started to make significant funds available to countries in need. Since then six countries in Africa have started using ACTs (Artemisinin-based combination therapies) Burundi, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia and Zanzibar. ACTs is proving to be a highly effective medicine to treat malaria for the first time in more than 20 years. In the past year nine other countries have followed suit: Benin, Cameroon, Comoros, Gabon, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Sao Tome and Principe, and Tanzania.
Africa Malaria Day is marked by a series of activities organised by various groups including governments, NGOs, schools and communities. (AP) (23/4/2004 Agenzia Fides; Righe:34; Parole:429)
