April 25, 2018
Update: On World Malaria Day, Nicholas Kristof with The New York Times published this incredible interactive piece on the devastation caused by malaria. His piece highlights that the progress made in the fight against malaria has stalled, and links to Friends’ recent report in the call for a major global push to end the malaria epidemic. Read more and view the interactive feature here.
Ahead of World Malaria Day, there has been a renewed push in the fight against the disease. As part of the Malaria Summit in London this month, the Global Fund joined 53 Commonwealth countries in the call to lessen malaria’s devastation by preventing 350 million cases of the disease and save 650,000 lives across these countries in the next five years. As part of this movement to halve malaria by 2023, the Global Fund has leveraged $355 million in donor funding to generate $2 billion in domestic investment by 46 countries affected by malaria.
The United Kingdom is also stepping up its investment in ending malaria as an epidemic. The UK government recently announced a £100 million matching fund that leverages support from the private sector. This fund helps fulfill the UK’s commitment to spend £500 million a year on tackling malaria until 2021. The Global Fund, in its work as a private-public partnership, will raise another £50 million from the private sector to fight malaria. Global Fund Executive Director Peter Sands further emphasized the need for innovation and ongoing resources to fight malaria in an opinion piece for the Financial Times, “Time to double down on malaria.”
This year’s #MalariaMustDie campaign included a compelling video featuring soccer superstar David Beckham, who calls for an end to malaria. At the Malaria Summit London 2018, leaders from 19 Commonwealth countries, including 12 heads of state and government, joined other global health leaders to make high-level commitments worth over $4.1 billion. These significantly increased investments will support efforts to meet malaria elimination targets and improve methods for tracking the disease.
Video: See how community health workers in Niger are working to prevent malaria.