IT WASN’T long ago that an Africa without malaria seemed like an impossible dream. Today, that dream is becoming a reality, thanks to the most powerful weapon we have in the malaria fight: strong leadership.
Progress in the fight against malaria has been unprecedented in the past 15 years, and nowhere is it more pronounced than in sub-Saharan Africa, which carries about 90% of the global burden of this deadly disease. Since 2000, malaria mortality rates have fallen 66% on the continent overall, and 71% among African children under five.
African heads of state and government, working with their ministers of health, have played a leading role in this stunning progress. Building on the pivotal efforts by donors such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, the US president’s Malaria Initiative, the UK’s Department for International Development, and France’s multilateral and bilateral contributions, many African leaders have made malaria a priority and committed domestic resources to the fight.
The African Leaders Malaria Alliance (Alma) is a coalition of 49 heads of state who have come together to fight malaria through high-level advocacy and action. To help hold leaders accountable and encourage a continued focus on malaria, Alma issues each country a quarterly scorecard tracking progress, identifying bottlenecks and stimulating action.
Each year, Alma honours countries that have made significant progress. Last year, it adopted an elimination agenda for the continent. On January 30, these leaders met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the sidelines of the African Union summit, to celebrate the progress and renew their commitment to eliminating this deadly disease from the continent.
...
MALARIA is entirely preventable and treatable. Mosquitoes that carry malaria in Africa bite at night, so the huge distribution of insecticide-treated nets — more than 1-billion since 2000 — and the use of indoor residual spraying has played a major role in saving lives.
This has led to significant improvements, especially in countries that are moving towards malaria elimination. Rapid diagnostic tests and artemisinin-based combination therapies have also played a critical role.
The tools at our disposal mean that no one has to die from malaria, but it takes a strong and sustained national commitment to ensure every citizen has access to them.
We both saw this firsthand in our own countries: when you make fighting malaria and the whole health sector development work a priority, it pays off.
Ethiopia was one of the first African countries to scale up distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets with a "universal coverage" net campaign back in 2006 and has continued to be a leader in malaria efforts. The engagement of thousands of community health workers has helped fuel the progress.
In Tanzania, to ensure the success of a universal coverage campaign, top musicians and media partners helped educate the public on the importance of sleeping under a net and taking measures against malaria. Through a partnership with Sumitomo Chemical, the country built the largest insecticide-treated mosquito net factory in Africa.
It produces 30-million nets a year and has since 2008, shipped more than 150-million nets across the continent.
As a result of our efforts, based on modelling by the World Health Organisation, Tanzania and Ethiopia both reduced malaria incidence between 50% and 75% from 2000 to last year.
Zanzibar has reduced malaria incidence more than 75% and is well on the road to elimination.
Strong leadership in other countries has also translated into fewer malaria cases and deaths.
This year, Alma recognised eight countries for meeting the malaria target in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and reducing the incidence of malaria by 75%: Botswana, Cape Verde, Eritrea, Namibia, Rwanda, São Tomé and Principe, SA and Swaziland.
The MDG goal was to "have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases."
Alma also recognised Rwanda, Senegal and Liberia for their performance in malaria-control, and Mali, Guinea and Comoros for the most improvement in malaria-control. Ethiopia and Tanzania have received awards in the past.
It is especially impressive that Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea were able to stay on track with malaria progress, despite the devastating toll of Ebola.
...
ACROSS the continent, momentum is building. Leaders are stepping up, dedicating their attention and resources to combating this killer. Later this year, the Africa Union is set to endorse a road map for elimination by 2030.
US President Barack Obama included malaria in his final state of the union speech, declaring that: "We are on track to end the scourge of HIV/AIDS" and "have the chance to accomplish the same thing with malaria". He added that he would be pushing Congress for funding.
As we celebrate our progress, we cannot lose our focus. Malaria is the oldest and deadliest disease in human history.
It still kills 395,000 Africans every year — one of our children dies every two minutes.
The dual threats of insecticide and drug resistance must be tackled urgently. Mosquito resistance to insecticides is increasing in Africa, and artemisinin resistance in Southeast Asia is a serious threat. The progress of the past 15 years proves that eliminating malaria is within reach.
Many countries on this planet have been able to eliminate it. Why not us on the African continent?
Malaria has stolen our loved ones. It has kept us out of work and school. It has damaged our economies and has burdened our health systems.
It has held us back from our true potential of making poverty history. We must recommit ourselves; let’s say enough is enough and act. Let’s be the generation that makes history. Let’s free Africa of malaria, once and for all.
• Desalegn is the prime minister of Ethiopia and Kikwete is the former president of Tanzania
The distribution of insecticide-treated nets — more than 1-billion since 2000 — has played a major part in saving lives on the continent. However, malaria still kills 395,000 Africans every year. Picture: REUTERS
IT WASN’T long ago that an Africa without malaria seemed like an impossible dream. Today, that dream is becoming a reality, thanks to the most powerful weapon we have in the malaria fight: strong leadership.
Progress in the fight against malaria has been unprecedented in the past 15 years, and nowhere is it more pronounced than in sub-Saharan Africa, which carries about 90% of the global burden of this deadly disease. Since 2000, malaria mortality rates have fallen 66% on the continent overall, and 71% among African children under five.
African heads of state and government, working with their ministers of health, have played a leading role in this stunning progress. Building on the pivotal efforts by donors such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, the US president’s Malaria Initiative, the UK’s Department for International Development, and France’s multilateral and bilateral contributions, many African leaders have made malaria a priority and committed domestic resources to the fight.
The African Leaders Malaria Alliance (Alma) is a coalition of 49 heads of state who have come together to fight malaria through high-level advocacy and action. To help hold leaders accountable and encourage a continued focus on malaria, Alma issues each country a quarterly scorecard tracking progress, identifying bottlenecks and stimulating action.
Each year, Alma honours countries that have made significant progress. Last year, it adopted an elimination agenda for the continent. On January 30, these leaders met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the sidelines of the African Union summit, to celebrate the progress and renew their commitment to eliminating this deadly disease from the continent.
...
MALARIA is entirely preventable and treatable. Mosquitoes that carry malaria in Africa bite at night, so the huge distribution of insecticide-treated nets — more than 1-billion since 2000 — and the use of indoor residual spraying has played a major role in saving lives.
This has led to significant improvements, especially in countries that are moving towards malaria elimination. Rapid diagnostic tests and artemisinin-based combination therapies have also played a critical role.
The tools at our disposal mean that no one has to die from malaria, but it takes a strong and sustained national commitment to ensure every citizen has access to them.
We both saw this firsthand in our own countries: when you make fighting malaria and the whole health sector development work a priority, it pays off.
Ethiopia was one of the first African countries to scale up distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets with a "universal coverage" net campaign back in 2006 and has continued to be a leader in malaria efforts. The engagement of thousands of community health workers has helped fuel the progress.
In Tanzania, to ensure the success of a universal coverage campaign, top musicians and media partners helped educate the public on the importance of sleeping under a net and taking measures against malaria. Through a partnership with Sumitomo Chemical, the country built the largest insecticide-treated mosquito net factory in Africa.
It produces 30-million nets a year and has since 2008, shipped more than 150-million nets across the continent.
As a result of our efforts, based on modelling by the World Health Organisation, Tanzania and Ethiopia both reduced malaria incidence between 50% and 75% from 2000 to last year.
Zanzibar has reduced malaria incidence more than 75% and is well on the road to elimination.
Strong leadership in other countries has also translated into fewer malaria cases and deaths.
This year, Alma recognised eight countries for meeting the malaria target in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and reducing the incidence of malaria by 75%: Botswana, Cape Verde, Eritrea, Namibia, Rwanda, São Tomé and Principe, SA and Swaziland.
The MDG goal was to "have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases."
Alma also recognised Rwanda, Senegal and Liberia for their performance in malaria-control, and Mali, Guinea and Comoros for the most improvement in malaria-control. Ethiopia and Tanzania have received awards in the past.
It is especially impressive that Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea were able to stay on track with malaria progress, despite the devastating toll of Ebola.
...
ACROSS the continent, momentum is building. Leaders are stepping up, dedicating their attention and resources to combating this killer. Later this year, the Africa Union is set to endorse a road map for elimination by 2030.
US President Barack Obama included malaria in his final state of the union speech, declaring that: "We are on track to end the scourge of HIV/AIDS" and "have the chance to accomplish the same thing with malaria". He added that he would be pushing Congress for funding.
As we celebrate our progress, we cannot lose our focus. Malaria is the oldest and deadliest disease in human history.
It still kills 395,000 Africans every year — one of our children dies every two minutes.
The dual threats of insecticide and drug resistance must be tackled urgently. Mosquito resistance to insecticides is increasing in Africa, and artemisinin resistance in Southeast Asia is a serious threat. The progress of the past 15 years proves that eliminating malaria is within reach.
Many countries on this planet have been able to eliminate it. Why not us on the African continent?
Malaria has stolen our loved ones. It has kept us out of work and school. It has damaged our economies and has burdened our health systems.
It has held us back from our true potential of making poverty history. We must recommit ourselves; let’s say enough is enough and act. Let’s be the generation that makes history. Let’s free Africa of malaria, once and for all.
• Desalegn is the prime minister of Ethiopia and Kikwete is the former president of Tanzania
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