From Africa Recovery, Vol.14#2 (July 2000), Watch page

MALARIA
'Roll back' campaign launched

Malaria takes the lives of 700,000 African children annually and costs the region $3-12 bn each year in lost revenue, says a joint study of the UN's World Health Organization (WHO), the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Harvard University. It was presented to 20 African heads of state at a conference launching a "Roll Back Malaria" campaign in Abuja, Nigeria, on 25 April.

The campaign aims to ensure that everyone at risk of the disease has access to insecticide-treated mosquito netting by 2005. At present, just 2 per cent of African children are protected by the nets. Wider use of such screens, researchers say, could cut the infection rate by half. "Roll Back Malaria aims to help African families create a mosquito-free zone in the home," said campaign manager Dr. Awash Teklehaimanot. The programme is also working to improve access to diagnosis and treatment and to develop better mechanisms for the detection of epidemics. The WHO report put the cost of treating malaria at just $1-8 per person per year.

WHO Executive Director Dr. David Navarro called for an increase in spending on malaria from the current $130 mn annually to $1 bn, primarily in Africa. "Malaria is taking costly bites out of Africa," he said in Abuja. "It is feasting on the health and development of African children and draining the life out of African economies."

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