African Leaders Unite To Fight Malaria

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African leaders are at the forefront of a landmark initiative to protect all those at risk from malaria with life-saving interventions by the end of 2010, the United Nations Envoy for efforts to defeat the deadly disease says.

The African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) is tasked with ensuring that more than 240 million insecticide-treated bed nets are distributed throughout malaria-endemic countries on the continent by the end of 2010, with the aim of ending unnecessary deaths from the disease by 2015.

Malaria kills almost one million Africans every year and affects over 200 million more, mostly pregnant women and children under five years of age, resulting in at least $12 billion of costs every year through lost development and opportunity, according to a news release issued by ALMA. Launched at UN Headquarters in New York yesterday, the alliance is a high-level forum set up to oversee the efficient procurement, distribution, and utilization of malaria control measures.

"Malaria is borderless," said the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria Ray Chambers at yesterday’s launch. "Therefore, we need an organization that transcends borders. This is ALMA."

Source: Allafrica