Today is World Malaria Day. Malaria is one of the targets of Millennium Development Goal No. 6. Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
The UN Wire reports that World Malaria Day brings us one step closer to our goal
This weekend, thousands of people around the world are showing their commitment to ending malaria deaths by 2015 by Sleeping Out, sending nets, throwing fundraisers, and spreading the buzz about malaria prevention. Sunday, April 25, is World Malaria Day – and just in time for this annual day of recognition for the cause, the World Bank has made an astounding commitment of their own : they are pledging $200 million to provide people in sub Saharan Africa with bed nets. This announcement comes just days…
Emily L. from Care2 Health Policy reminds us to Do Our Part to Commemorate World Malaria Day
December 31, 2010 was the target date UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon set in place for delivering effective mosquito nets to all regions affected by malaria (his words: "universal coverage"). This is an incredibly lofty goal, but that's what makes it so wonderful. We are making real progress toward the eradication of malaria, and moving rapidly toward the Millennium Development Goals.Of all the Millennium Development Goals, this one seems to have the most focus by the main stream media and the people it follows.
Stars, social media unite for malaria effort
Celebrities are lining up to support an online campaign to urge people to buy insecticide-treated bed nets to help prevent the spread of malaria in Africa. Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and actor Ashton Kutcher will seek to leverage their followings on the social-media site Twitter to drive the campaign.
The UN aims to reduce the deaths from malaria to near zero in Africa by 2015. So far, more than $4 billion has been raised to fight the disease, mostly from the World Bank, government agencies and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The UN expects to cover 800 million people at risk of malaria with bednets, but it is still short of funding for roughly 50 million of those nets, Chambers said.
There is true significant progress being made, this does not mean that we can rest on our laurels though.
Africa's malaria battle progressing, more help promised
Malaria infections are dropping across Africa in response to the World Health Organization's Roll Back Malaria program, according to Rob Newman, director of the WHO's Global Malaria Programme. U.S. officials announced plans to focus part of that country's Global Health Initiative on reaching 450 million women and children in sub-Saharan Africa with the aim of halving malaria rates among the group.The progress made in the struggle to eradicate malaria has been on many fronts. Government organizations through the United Nations and in developed industrial countries, non-government organizations such as the World Bank and World Health Organization, philanthropic organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The most important factor to my mind was capturing the imagination of the public that this was a terrible challenge that ruined the lives of millions, but that it was a challenge that could be successfully met. We need to do as good as a job as that with the other 7 Millennium Development Goals this September at the UN Millennium Summit.Reuters (4/22) U.S. effort to fight malaria focuses on women
AlertNet.org/Reuters (4/22)
INTERVIEW-Africa making "dramatic" headway against malaria22 Apr 2010 15:36:33 GMT Source: Reuters * Africa making "dramatic" anti-malaria progress * Killer disease's economic burden likely to ease By Ed Cropley
Infection rates in Zambia, for instance, more than halved from 2001 to 2008 due to widespread distribution of mosquito nets, targeted spraying of insecticides and better and cheaper diagnosis and treatment, said Rob Newman, director of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Global Malaria Programme.
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