African leaders have launched the Zero MalariaStarts with Me, a continent-wide campaign co-led by the African Union
Commission and the Roll-Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership to End Malaria, to see
more people involved in the fight against the disease that kills over 400,000
Africans every year, reports NaijaAgroNet.
Following reports that malaria cases have increased for the
first time in more than a decade, Zero Malaria Starts with Me seeks to reignite
a society-wide movement to get back on track efforts that contributed to a 60% decline
in cases and saved an estimated 7 million lives since 2000, and to help meet
the goal of eliminating malaria across Africa by 2030.
The campaign, unveiled Sunday during the AIDS Watch Africa
Meeting at the 31st African Union Summit by President Macky Sall of
Senegal and King Mswati III of Eswatini and endorsed by 55 (TBC) African Heads
of State and Government today, empowers communities to take greater ownership
of malaria prevention and care, and to mobilise additional resources for the
effort.
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Chair of the African
Union, says: “The African continent accounts for over 90% of the
global malaria burden. It is in this context that we have launched the “Zero
Malaria Starts with Me” campaign, a continent-wide public-facing campaign for a
malaria-free Africa. The campaign will reignite grassroot movements in which
individuals, families, communities, religious leaders, private sector,
political leaders, and other members of society pledge to take responsibility
in the fight against malaria.”
Inspired by Senegal’s nationwide campaign of the same name
launched in 2014, Zero Malaria Starts with Me is now being rolled out across
the African continent to encourage all citizens – political, business,
community and religious leaders, as well as individuals, families and
communities – to make a personal commitment to ending malaria for good.
To date, over 20 African nations have committed to join in
supporting the campaign, with presidents of Uganda, Zambia and Mozambique already
launching nationwide campaigns that include large-scale bed net distribution
drives to establishing high-level national End Malaria Councils and
parliamentary groups on malaria. Others, including the First Ladies of Ghana
and Niger, have pledged to do more to engage leaders and communities to fight
malaria in their countries.
President Macky Sall of Senegal comments: “In my
country, malaria has long been a major public health concern threatening the
socio-economic development and structural transformation trajectory that has
put our country on a firm path to sustainable development. It is through
national ownership, shared responsibility and global solidarity that we can
defeat malaria for good.”
HM King Mswati III of the Kingdom of Eswatini, Chair of
the African Leaders’ Malaria Alliance, says: “This campaign further
reinvigorates our commitment to eliminate malaria in Africa as we now call upon
all our people at all levels to work with us in ridding our continent of this
scourge. I urge all governments to invest more in fighting the disease, however
the success of this campaign will depend on partnerships and on collaboration
across sectors and amongst our population, for as government, we cannot win
this fight against malaria alone.”
The campaign offers simple tools to increase community
participation in malaria elimination efforts, keep pressure up on leaders to
stay committed to ending the disease, and forge new partnerships that can
contribute additional funding that will increase access to treatment, improve
diagnosis and prevention against the deadly disease. Campaign resources are
provided via a Zero Malaria Starts with Me toolkit available at www.zeromalaria.africa.
