As the international community celebrates the World Malaria Day, Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR) has called for increased partnership with relevant stakeholders to End Malaria.
This year’s celebration was on promoting “Zero malaria starts with me”, a grassroots campaign that aims to keep malaria high on the political agenda, mobilize additional resources, and empower communities to take ownership of malaria prevention and care.
“We know that through country leadership and collective action, we can radically reduce suffering and death from malaria. Between 2000 and 2014, the number of malaria-related deaths fell by 40% worldwide, from an estimated 743 000 to 446 000.
But in recent years, progress has ground to a standstill. According to WHO’s WHO malaria report 2019, there were no global gains in reducing new infections over the period 2014 to 2018. And nearly as many people died from malaria in 2018 as the year before.
Urgent action is needed to get back on track, and ownership of the challenge lies in the hands of countries most affected by malaria. The “Zero malaria” campaign engages all members of society: political leaders who control government policy decisions and budgets; private sector companies that will benefit from a malaria-free workforce; and communities affected by malaria, whose buy-in and ownership of malaria control interventions is critical to success.
CCIDESOR posited that government must ensure increased budget for the combat of the scourge, adding that apart from the budget, the relevant bodies must follow the implementation of the budget o the letter
