Select Page

High score on preventable diseases

Executive Secretary of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance, Joy Phumaphi has commended Namibia for its leadership and for taking ownership and demonstrating commitment to winning the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The alliance consists of 49 African Heads of State. Joy also serves as co-Chair of the Independent Expert Review Group, for Every Woman Every Child, reporting annually to the UNSG on developing country progress on Women’s and Children’s health.
Joy expressed her commendation at the replenishment of the Global Fund for 2017 to19 at the Global Fund Replenishment Conference, earlier this week, in Montreal, Canada, where leaders from around the world reaffirmed their commitment to the Global Fund to fight the three devastating diseases.
“African leadership and ownership are essential in the fight against malaria. The Global Fund works in close partnership with African countries as countries commit more of their own resources to the fight against malaria,” she said.
The African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) wholeheartedly supports the work of the Global Fund, which has helped to save millions of lives in Africa, she added.
“We thank all partners for their generous contributions to the Global Fund and we look forward to working together to continue progress towards a malaria-free Africa,” she said
To date, the Global Fund has saved 20 million lives and is on track to reach 22 million lives saved by the end of 2016. As a result of prevention and control interventions in more than 100 countries, Global Fund-supported programmes averted 146 million new infections from the three diseases since 2012 alone.
Programmes supported by the Global Fund, designed and implemented by local experts, have provided 659 million mosquito nets around the world to prevent malaria. The number of deaths caused by malaria declined by 50% in the countries where the Global Fund invested between 2000 and 2015 and with continued support, 21 countries could eliminate malaria by 2020. In Africa specifically, malaria mortality rates have fallen by 66% among all age groups and by 71% among children under 5 since 2000. Still, malaria remains one of the top causes of mortality in pregnant women and children.

About The Author

SADC Correspondent

SADC correspondents are independent contributors whose work covers regional issues of southern Africa outside the immediate Namibian ambit. Ed.