Thursday is World Malaria Day. Each year on April 25, local, national and global events, speeches and other advocacy actions remind the world of the suffering and loss, caused by this pernicious disease.
This year, the synchronised messages are petitioning us all to continue investing our attention, our resources and our collective will in the future, in order to defeat malaria once and for all.
In Africa, every day is malaria day. Every day our children get sick, and one is needlessly lost to the disease each minute. But, as the region that bears the brunt of malaria’s burden, with 90 per cent of global deaths, Africa has also led the charge.
Effective national policies and control interventions have saved more than 1m African children from malaria death in the past decade. In the same period, outstanding progress has been seen in malaria prevention, with nine African nations on track to achieve 75 per cent reductions in malaria cases by 2015
African progress against malaria has been made possible by a convergence of political commitment, shared investment and technical consensus on how to tackle the disease, a process that began even before we really knew what change might be possible.
Just over 12 years ago, malaria-endemic countries in Africa committed themselves to an intensive effort to cut by half malaria deaths by 2010. Fast forward to 2013, and the undeniable change of gear towards that goal has been remarkable.
The African Union (AU) is actively promoting accountability for delivery and impact of mutual commitments made by African countries and G8 donors. African heads of state and government collaborate through the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) to keep malaria high on the political and policy agenda, and to end malaria-related deaths in their countries.
Through the Southern African Development Community (SADC), eight southern African countries are working in close partnership towards the eventual elimination of malaria in the region, including in four countries by 2015.
Now that we know what can be done – and that our most ambitious malaria goals are achievable – our countries’ leaders and people are asking again how they can ensure that valuable malaria gains are protected and advanced: how to invest in Africa’s future.
To date, Africa governments and international partners have mobilised $4.4bn to fund vital interventions such as mosquito nets, rapid diagnostic tests and malaria medicines in Africa. Nevertheless, malaria funding reached a plateau over the past two years and the continent faces a $3.6bn gap in financing for malaria control between 2013 and 2015.
With the global financial crisis influencing the flow of development assistance for health – and with some of the world’s fastest-growing economies now to be found in Africa – a growing proportion of that gap is being filled from African domestic budgets.
Of the 53 AU Member States six have met the benchmark of 15 per cent national income to be committed to health. Average AU government allocations to health increased 9 per cent to 11 per cent over the past decade.
Such investments, when allocated to malaria control, protect African people against a possible resurgence of the disease and loss of life, as well a shield for African economies from the impact of malaria on continued growth.
African countries will also invest in homegrown malaria and related health research. A growing scientific expertise, specific focus on African health priorities and various grant-giving programmes have allowed the region’s researchers to make increasingly important contributions to global scientific collaborations.
But a dependence on funds from international research institutions and donors – and the inadequate dissemination, uptake and application of research results within African countries themselves – have created a needless separation of malaria research and policy-setting in the region.
This gap also prevents health research and capacity building from aligning with national and regional priorities. Investing in the African future will include providing support to the region’s gifted malaria researchers so they work together more closely, and contribute more to national malaria policies and technical decision-making in their own countries.
Similarly, African civil society has contributed a concerted voice to international health-related discourses, advocacy and social change over the past decade.
The South African Treatment Action Campaign, for example, has shown the tremendous impact that a movement rooted in the lived experiences of affected people and communities can have on critical decision-making.
When governments place their confidence in African civil society, malaria responses will be able fully to harness the social capital and ingenuity of our people. Regional celebrities and malaria ambassadors have also proved to be critical voices for awareness-raising and ensuring that the disease remains high on people’s attention.
Each time I hear the theme of this World Malaria Day: Invest in the Future: Defeat Malaria, I feel optimistic that African leaders – and our people – are ready to build on the tremendous malaria successes to date. Our common malaria goals are more achievable now than ever, although they need the continued commitment of all involved in order to be secured.
Dr Fatoumata Nafo-Traoré is executive director of Roll Back Malaria, written - Financial Times
