New international partnership for treatment against malaria.
225 million dollars for the first two years.
225 million dollars for the first two years.
Rome, (Apcom) - Several organizations and various governments launched an international partnership in Oslo to fight malaria in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa by making life saving medicines affordable. Malaria is a curable disease, but every year it infects between 350 and 500 million people, causing the death of at least one million, 90% of whom are children. Global Fund against AIDS, TB and malaria will manage the new partnership with a 225 million dollar (172 million euro) budget for the first two years.
The partnership, called "Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria', aims at reducing the price of the malaria treatment in order to make it accessible to the poorer populations in Africa and Asia. Current medicine prices should decrease from 6-10 dollars to 20-50 cents. "The time when the world lets millions of people die, despite having all the medicines necessary for infectious diseases, has come to an end", said Foreign Affairs Minister, Jonas Gahr Stoere.
"There is no reason why children should still die of malaria - said Michel Kazatchkine, Chief Director of the Global Fund - we have mosquito nets to protect children and the right medicines to treat them if they fall ill. Now we must make sure that those who need them will be able to have them. It is a wise investment in global health for world development". For the first two years loans will be guaranteed by UNITAID, an international facility created by France and supported by Norway, the British government and other 27 countries to buy quality medicines and guarantee diagnostic tests for HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB. Roll-Back Malaria is also a member of the partnership, together with the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Clinton Foundation.
The initiative will initially be launched in 11 countries - Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda - and will be then extended to other States. The reduction of malaria and other diseases by 2015 is one of the eight objectives of the Millennium, adopted in 2000 by the United Nations.