APLMA, Roll Back Malaria Partnership and Empower School of Health urge India to step up investment to overcome malaria
Groups gather Government, Industry and Civil Society Leaders prior to World Malaria Day
In the lead-up to World Malaria Day, recognized globally on 25 April, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership (RBM), Asia-Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA) and the Empower School of Health hosted an evening event to celebrate the successes against the disease in recent years and encourage a broad, multisectoral approach to overcome remaining financial and biological challenges, particularly in the Asia-Pacific. Gathering government leaders, including Guest of Honor Mr. Lov Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, other dignitaries and foreign diplomats, private sector and civil society executives, academics and development experts, co-hosts urged greater investment in malaria-control efforts to help save lives and foster greater economic development for India and the region more broadly.
The delegates highlighted the potential for India to contribute to broader efforts against the disease, including through national corporate engagement initiatives, as a strong member of the G20 and the BRICS emerging market countries, as well as a leading producer and exporter of anti-malarial medicines.
“With 95 percent of India’s population living in malaria-endemic areas and an estimated 1 million cases reported by the government each year, malaria continues to take a significant economic toll on the country,” said Mr. Herve Verhoosel, RBM Representative at the United Nations in New York and Head of External Relations, while speaking at a press conference just before the event. “We have a tremendous opportunity to leverage the power of a booming economy in India to unlock resources and scale-up malaria-control interventions that will save lives and foster greater development for all. I call on the private sector to join with the government and civil society to help scale-up efforts and overcome biological challenges that threaten progress.”
With 22 malaria-endemic countries in the Asia-Pacific, the region is home to over 2 billion people at risk of infection and accounts for approximately 32 million cases of malaria infection and 47,000 associated deaths each year. While a scale-up of interventions has averted over 80 million cases, and over 100,000 deaths since 2000, the Asia-Pacific region continues to carry the second highest malaria burden outside of Africa. India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Papua New Guinea bear the largest burden of the disease, accounting for 89 percent of all malaria cases in the region.
Parasite resistance to artemisinin, the core component of the most effective, WHO-recommended course of treatment for malaria – Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs) –has been confirmed in five countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region in the Asia-Pacific: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar Thailand and Vietnam. The threat poses a very real risk to progress achieved to date, as the spread of this resistance could leave the estimated 3.3 billion people at risk of malaria around the world with no effective course of treatment against infection.
“Enthusiastic endorsement for APLMA, as seen amongst leaders attending the 2013 East Asia Summit, presents a unique opportunity to help the region work together to scale up malaria interventions and move them beyond borders and state lines,” said Benjamin Rolfe,Executive Secretary ad interim of APLMA. “To do this, we need governments,bednet and insecticide manufacturers, drug makers, border officials, climate change activists and others involved in the fight against malaria working better together.”
EH News Bureau
