Billions Ploughed Into Fight Against Malaria: Bill Gates And World Bank Among The Donors – New Vaccine Key Part Of Strategy To Prevent Deaths
NEW YORK 26. September 2008: World leaders Thursday announced an ambitious plan to end all malaria deaths by 2015, backed by unprecedented funding of nearly 3 billion US dollar (ca. 15 milliarder DKR) from donors.
With tools that are now proven to work, such as long-lasting, insecticide-impregnated bed nets, indoor spraying against malarial mosquitoes, and new drugs as well as the expected vaccine, it is now hoped not only to bring malaria under control by 2010 but to eliminate deaths from the disease.
The largest slice of the new money comes from the Global Fund, a body which finances the fight against Aids, tuberculosis and malaria, which has approved 1,62 billion dollar in country grants over two years and then the World Bank, which is putting 1,1 billion into Africa over three years.
The Bank is focusing on the DR Congo and Nigeria, where 30 percent -40 percent of all malaria deaths occur. World Bank Group president Robert B. Zoellick said that endemic malaria also has serious financial consequences for families.
– Malaria preys on the poor and keeps them poor. Poverty prevents people from buying bed nets to prevent malaria and medicine to cure it, he noted.
Other funding commitments include 168,7 million dollar from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; 2 million from Ted Turner’s UN Foundation; and 100 million from a coalition of corporations, including 28 million from Texas-based Marathon Oil to extend its malaria-prevention program across Equatorial Guinea.
Several Western governments pledged public funds toward fighting malaria. Prime Minister Gordon Brown committed about 83 million dollar from the British government. The US government this year approved 5 billion dollar over five years.
– Todays launch is a real and vital turning point, said Gordon Brown, addng that “it brings together a new coalition of forces – government, the private sector and NGOs – to ensure we all rise to the challenge of eradicating malaria deaths by 2015”.
The alliance is called the Global Malaria Action Plan. The nonprofit group Malaria No More and others will help coordinate the malaria efforts of the donors, in hopes of reaching the millions of people who live within malarial regions.
If the plan does reach those millions of people, real inroads against the world-wide bane (forbandelse) could be made.
Many of those people are in countries with bad roads, weak health care systems and civil unrest. Many do not know how to use the tools or, for whatever reason, choose not to. They then need to keep using them, for years.
To avoid any backsliding, Global Malaria Action Plan estimated Thursday that the global malaria battle will need funding of 5,3 billion dollar next year, 6,2 billion the following year, and 5,1 billion every year between 2011 and 2020.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
Læs også telegrammerne
http://u-landsnyt.dk/indhold.asp?ID=15961&mode=Nyhed
og www.u-landsnyt.dk/indhold.asp?ID=15911&mode=Nyhed
