World Malaria Day: Int’l bodies calls for need to tackle disease
Tom Okpe, Abuja
To eliminate the Malaria scourge worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for renewed political commitment to eliminate the disease in commemoration with the World Malaria Day.
The International agency said increased investments in malaria prevention and control will go a long way in fighting the disease in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said governments should mobilize all necessary internal and external resources towards eliminating malaria.
World Malaria Day is marked every April 25 and this year’s theme is ‘Zero Malaria Starts with Me.’
Malaria remains one of the world’s leading killer diseases, claiming the life of one child every two minutes, according to the WHO with Africa where over 250,000 children die from the disease every year.
According to WHO report of 2018, no significant gain was made in reducing malaria cases in the period 2015 to 2017. The estimated number of malaria deaths in 2017 was at 435,000 remained virtually unchanged over the previous years.
Moti said: “In a bid to reduce the scourge, the world’s first malaria vaccine, RTS was launched in Malawi on Tuesday, April this year. The pace of progress must be accelerated if the world is to achieve a 40% drop in global malaria cases and deaths by 2010, compared to2015.
“We need to empower individuals across the world to make personal commitments to saving more lives and help communities and economies to thrive by eliminating malaria”.
He urges all member states to allocate adequate resources and to work across sectors to straighten cross boarder collaborations.
“with required resources, strong coordination’s and dedicated partners, we can accelerate our actions to achieve a malaria- free Africa, transforming a common vision to end malaria for good into a shared reality for a healthier and more prosperous Africa”, he said.
Meanwhile, the United States Government has also reaffirmed its commitment to help in bringing to an end to malaria scourge in Nigeria.
The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington said in press statement on Thursday in Abuja that his government will continue to extend its suppoport to the global fight against the disease.
“This World Malaria Day, we are proud to reaffirm our commitment to continue this global progress to end malaria in Nigeria.
I extend our hand in partnership to all of those who will join us in the ‘Zero Malaria Starts With Me, You and everyone’ working together for a more prosperous and healthy future for all”, the ambassador said.
