Ban calls on Intl. community to invest in future for defeating Malaria

TEHRAN, Apr. 26 (MNA) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon in his message on World Malaria Day, 25 April 2015 while urging the international community to invest in the future for defeating malaria said the real opportunity to defeat this terrible disease exists. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon referred to World Health Organization’s last year report on the falling rate of deaths caused by malaria since the beginning of this century, adding “one reason for this substantial improvement is the increased availability of insecticide-treated bed nets. In 2013...almost half of all people at risk of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa had access to an insecticide-treated net, up from just 3 per cent in 2004.” He added that the “massively improved access to accurate malaria diagnostics and effective treatment” was another reason for the drop in malaria-related deaths. “As a result, fewer people are becoming infected with malaria, and more people are getting the medicines they need. This tremendous achievement is clear proof that we can win the global fight against malaria. We have the tools and the know-how. But, we still need to invest in getting these tools to a lot more people if we are to further reduce the number of people becoming ill with malaria, and further cut the number of people who die each year,” Ban said in his message. The UN chief highlighted the urgent need to get insecticide-treated nets to all people at risk in sub-Saharan Africa, adding “we must address the recent decline in indoor residual spraying, another key intervention for reducing new infections. And we have to do more to for the millions of people who cannot get tested and treated for malaria. We must also move more decisively to tackle insecticide and drug resistance.” To this end, Ban called for investing more in tried and tested approaches to malaria prevention and treatment, strengthening health systems in the world’s poorest countries, and intensifying efforts to develop new tools and approaches. “On World Malaria Day 2015, I call on the international community to ‘invest in the future: defeat malaria’. We have a real opportunity to defeat this terrible disease. Let’s not waste it,” the message concluded.