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African and other world leaders will attend a summit meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, on 25 and 26 April to deliberate and take decisions on how to effectively implement the Roll Back Malaria Programme which has been launched by the World Health Organization and other partners. This will be another major step in the struggle to control the scourge of malaria in the African Region.
Fifty African heads of state, heads of state of the eight leading industrialised countries (G8), heads of ten international development agencies and more than 12 health and development ministers from Europe have been invited to this meeting and many of them have indicated their intention to attend it.
They will be coming to Abuja because of the realization that t1le malaria situation in the African Region is a priority problem which calls for concrete, effective and urgent solutions.
The Burden of Malaria
As you know, malaria is one of the most serious public health problems in sub-Saharan Africa. In recent years, our Region has experienced a dramatic resurgence of this disease and almost the entire population of more than 550 million is now at risk, with up to 500 million clinical cases of malaria recorded every year.
Malaria is today one of the two top killer diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. It causes more than one million deaths each year, most of them among children under five years of age. About, 74% of the people of the Region live in malaria endemic areas while 18% of them live in areas where there are periodic outbreaks of epidemics of the disease.
In the highly endemic areas, malaria is responsible for about 30-50% of fever cases, 30% of outpatient consultations and 10-15% of hospital admissions. Children under five years of age and pregnant women are the most vulnerable to the disease. In fact, one out of every 20 children born in the Region die of malaria-related illnesses before the age of five.
The social and economic consequences of malaria in our Region are very grave. It is a major cause of poverty in the Region. It keeps large numbers of adults from work and many children away from school all the time. It affects the poor primarily, thereby exacerbating inequities in health and impeding development.
The economic losses due to malaria are enormous. According to health economists, in 1997 alone, the African Region lost more than $2 billion because of malaria and malaria-related diseases. The amount of loss is projected to reach $3.2 billion in ...
These are gloomy statistics and they are clearly unacceptable.
Roll Back Malaria
The gravity of the problem is well recognised and efforts are being made at various levels to tackle it. In June 1997, African heads of state and government adopted the Harare Declaration on Malaria Prevention and Control in the Context of African Economic Recovery and Development, committing themselves to efforts to control the disease in the continent. In April 1998, the WHO Regional Office for Africa introduced the African Initiative for Malaria Control in the 21st Century. The same year, the WHO Director General, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, on her assumption of office., introduced the Roll Back Malaria Initiative as one of her top priorities. Roll Back Malaria (REM) was jointly launched in October 1998 by WHO, UNDP, UNICEF and the World Bank.
The goals of the Roll Back Malaria programme, led by WHO, are to reduce deaths due to malaria progressively by 50% by 2010, by another 30% by 2015, and by another 20% by 2025.
The programme provides the right framework for international action to reduce the burden of the disease in our Region. A key feature of the RBM partnership is that it is inter-sectoral, inter-agency, multi-disciplinary and multinational, based on the needs in the field and driven by country demands. Unlike previous anti-malaria efforts, RBM is all-embracing. It seeks to mobilize and coordinate a global coalition including leaders from malaria- endemic countries, WHO itself, UN agencies, NGOs, scientific communities and public and private sector organizations. Because it draw's from the expertise of participating agencies and organizations, resources are pooled for maximum advantage, thus eliminating waste and costly overlaps.
RBM and the African Region
Since 90% of cases of the disease worldwide occur in Africa, the Region has become the main focus of the efforts to Roll Back Malaria. In order to mobilise the countries of the Region for effective implementation of the Initiative., WHO last year organised four sub-regional meetings to promote close partnerships between the governments, the people and international organizations in the struggle against malaria. Since then,, 35 of the 46 Member States of WHO in Africa have developed plans of preparatory activities for the implementation of the Initiatiave.
There is reason for optimism that malaria can be effectively controlled in our Region. For one thing, advances are being made in the knowledge of all aspects of the disease. We also have infinitely better tools to deal with the scourge now than in the earlier attempts. Thirdly, there is a genuine involvement of Africans from endemic areas in control efforts; this can only promote ownership of control programmes Region-wide. And finally, there is a resurgence of interest among partners, and an unprecedented political will on the part of African leaders.
African Summit on Malaria
Ultimately, the success of the Roll Back Malaria movement rests squarely on the shoulders of Africans themselves. The movement and the partnership which drives it will depend on the commitment and strategic interest of national governments and the involvement of their people.
The African Summit on Malaria, which was initiated by President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, will focus on the social and economic burden of malaria in Africa and provide African leaders a platform to commit themselves to strategies and targets for its reduction. It will conclude with a declaration, stating not only the political will of the leaders but also steps to be taken to roll back malaria in Africa.
This summit will also provide an opportunity for development partners to renew their commitment to malaria control and to health development generally in our Region.
It is hoped that the summit will give the Roll Back Malaria initiative the necessary impetus to ensure the attainment of its goals in the African Region.
Dr Ebrahim M. Samba
Regional Director |
