WHO-UNICEF report focuses on malaria

Africa Malaria Report is the name of the report launched by WHO and UNICEF giving an overall view of the situation of this disease in the African continent. Ninety percent of deaths due to Malaria occur in Africa, south of the Sahara from which 3,000 African children die daily of this disease.

The International Community has been committed in fighting this disease since 1950 when the campaign to eradicate malaria successfully controlled this disease in several countries. However, the eradication era came to an end and now affected countries and the international community are uniting efforts to face the increasing malaria burden. Recently, specific intervention strategies to tackle malaria were established through the Roll Back Malaria Partnership in 1998. The African leaders endorsed the goals set in this partnership of halving the cases of Malaria for 2010, during the Abuja Malaria Summit in April 2000 in Nigeria. In the Abuja Declaration interim targets were set and a plan of action for expanding access to and use of effective interventions was devised.

This report is an initial effort to collect, analyse, and present information on the malaria situation in Africa. Although it underlines that the death toll from malaria remains "outrageously high" it also shows how over the past few years, 13 countries in Africa have changed their national policies to require the use of more effective antimalarial treatments.

To download the Africa Malaria Report please click here.

To know more about the celebrations of the Roll Back Malaria Day 2003 please click here.