Ministers of Health from African countries with the highest burden of malaria have expressed their commitment to taking accelerated actions to end deaths from the disease.
This is contained in a statement issued by the World Health
Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday.
The Ministers, gathering in Yaoundé, Cameroon, signed a
declaration committing to provide stronger leadership and increased domestic
funding for malaria control programmes.
They also pledged to ensure further investment in data
technology; to apply the latest technical guidance in malaria control and
elimination; and to enhance malaria control efforts at the national and
sub-national levels.
The ministers also pledged to sustainably and equitably
address the threat of malaria in the African region, which accounts for 95 per
cent of malaria deaths globally.
In the declaration, the ministers further pledged to
increase health sector investments to bolster infrastructure, personnel and
programme implementation; to enhance multi-sectoral collaboration; and to build
partnerships for funding, research and innovation.
In signing the declaration, they expressed their “unwavering
commitment to the accelerated reduction of malaria mortality” and to hold each
other and our countries accountable for the commitments outlined in this
declaration.
The Yaoundé conference, co-hosted by WHO and the Government
of Cameroon, gathered ministers of health, global malaria partners, funding
agencies, scientists, civil society organizations and other principal malaria
stakeholders.
It said that the ministerial conference had four key aims:
review progress and challenges in achieving the targets of the WHO global
malaria strategy and discuss mitigation strategies and funding for malaria.
Others are to agree on effective strategies and responses
for accelerated malaria mortality reduction in Africa and establish a roadmap
for increased political commitment and societal engagement in malaria control,
with a clear accountability mechanism.
Mr Manaouda Malachie, Minister for Health of Cameroon said
that the declaration reflects their shared commitment as nations and partners
to protect their people from the devastating consequences of malaria.
“We will work together to ensure that this commitment is
translated into action and impact,” Malachie said.
He said that the African region was home to 11 countries
that carry approximately 70 per cent of the global burden of malaria.
According to him, the counties are Burkina Faso, Cameroon,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria,
Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.
He said that the progress against malaria has stalled in
these high-burden African countries since 2017 due to factors including
humanitarian crises, low access to and insufficient quality of health services.
Malachie said that other factors are climate change,
gender-related barriers, biological threats such as insecticide and drug
resistance and global economic crises.
“Fragile health systems and critical gaps in data and
surveillance have compounded the challenge,” he said.
According to him, funding for malaria control globally is
also inadequate. In 2022, 4.1billion dollars just over half of the needed
budget was available for malaria response.
“Globally the number of cases in 2022 was significantly
higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic, rising to 249 million from 233
million in 2019.
“In the same period, the African region saw an increase in
cases from 218 million to 233 million,” he said.
Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General said that the
region continued to shoulder the heaviest malaria burden, representing 94 per
cent of global malaria cases and 95 per cent of global deaths, an estimated 580
000 deaths in 2022.
“Globally, the world has made significant progress against
malaria in recent decades and yet, since 2017, that progress has stalled.
“The COVID-19 pandemic and long-standing threats like drug
and insecticide resistance pushed us further off-track, with critical gaps in
funding and access to tools to prevent, diagnose and treat malaria.
“With political leadership, country ownership and the
commitment of a broad coalition of partners, we can change this story for
families and communities across Africa.”Ghebreyesus said.
According to him, to help accelerate efforts to reduce the
malaria burden, WHO and the RBM Partnership to End Malaria launched the “High
burden to high impact” approach in 2018, a targeted effort to accelerate
progress in countries hardest hit by malaria.
WHO boss said that the declaration signed at today’s
conference was aligned with the “High burden to high impact” approach, which
was founded on four pillars.
He said that the pillars are political will to reduce
malaria deaths; strategic information to drive impact; better guidance,
policies and strategies; and a coordinated national malaria response.
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa said
that malaria continued to cause preventable deaths in children and great
devastation to families across our region.
“We welcome today’s ministerial declaration, which
demonstrates a strong political will to reduce the burden of this deadly
disease.
“With renewed urgency and commitment, we can accelerate
progress towards a future free of malaria,” Moeti said.
According to her, to put malaria progress back on track, WHO
recommends robust commitment to malaria responses at all levels, particularly
in high-burden countries; greater domestic and international funding; science
and data-driven malaria responses.
Moeti called for urgent action on the health impacts of
climate change; harnessing research and innovation; as well as strong
partnerships for coordinated responses.
According to her, WHO is also calling attention to the need
to address delays in malaria programme implementation.
NAN reports that the WHO says the African Region carries a
disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden.
In 2022, the WHO said the region was home to 94 per cent of
malaria cases (233 million) and 95 per cent (580 000) of malaria deaths.
The world health body said children under five accounted for
about 80 per cent of all malaria deaths in the region. NAN
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