44 millioner myggenet har i løbet af seks år været med til at nedbringe antallet af malaria-dødsfald blandt børn markant. Men det skal endnu længere ned, lyder det fra FN på den internationale malariadag.
25 April 2014 (UN News): The tide has turned on malaria, with mortality rates for children in Africa down by half, but a stronger surveillance system is urgently needed to prevent new outbreaks and resurgences, United Nations officials today warned, marking the sixth annual World Malaria Day.
“We must stay focused until the job is done,” said Ray Chambers, UN Special Envoy for Malaria. “The world has an ethical obligation to continue to protect the hundreds of millions of children who have slept safely under a bed net and who have had access to treatment.”
Child deaths from malaria declined from one million in 2008 to under 500,000 thanks to a community of malaria supporters who delivered nearly 44 million long-lasting mosquito nets in the first-quarters of this year alone, Mr. Chambers said.
“We have arrived at this historic moment thanks to the dedicated leaders of endemic countries; committed donor countries and organizations,” he added, including the UN-backed Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank, and national Governments.
However, the disease killed an estimated 627,000 people in 2012, mostly children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa, according to figures cited by the UN. More than 200 million cases are believed to occur each year, most of them never tested or registered.
In his remarks on the Day, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “While we applaud progress to date, we must confront the fact that malaria still kills more than half a million people every year. Too many cases still go untested, unregistered and untreated.”
As such, the UN chief repeated his call for continued investment and sustained political commitment, and will to improve malaria prevention and control.
Læs hele historien på http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47651&Cr=malaria&Cr1=
