Global fund has set a target of saving 22 million lives of Africans from life threatening diseases – malaria, HIV and tuberculosis – under its African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) project for 2016.
In a statement issued by Joy Phumaphi, executive secretary, ALMA, Global Fund, said it would work collaboratively with African leadership to achieve the set objectives.
African leadership and ownership are essential in the fight against malaria. The Global Fund works in close partnership with African countries, as countries commit more of their own resources to the fight malaria.
“Today, at the Global Fund Replenishment Conference, leaders from around the world reaffirmed their commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and to end the three devastating diseases,” Global Fund said in a statement.
“The ALMA wholeheartedly supports the work of the Global Fund, which has helped to save millions of lives in Africa. We equally commend Nigeria for their leadership and for taking ownership and demonstrating commitment to winning the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria,” it noted further.
Notably, the ALMA is a groundbreaking coalition of 49 African heads of state and government working across country and regional borders to achieve a malaria-free Africa by 2030.
Since it founding in 2009, ALMA has supported efforts to keep malaria high on national and international development agendas. The Global Fund partnership brings together governments, civil society, the private sector and people affected by the diseases.
Available records reveals that till date, the Global Fund has saved 20 million lives and is on track to reach 22 million lives saved by the end of 2016. As a result of prevention and control interventions in more than 100 countries, Global Fund-supported programs averted 146 million new infections from the three diseases since 2012 alone.
Accordingly also, programmes supported by the Global Fund, designed and implemented by local experts, have provided 659 million mosquito nets around the world to prevent malaria. The number of deaths caused by malaria declined by 50 percent in the countries where the Global Fund invested between 2000 and 2015 and with continued support, 21 countries could eliminate malaria by 2020.
In Africa specifically, malaria mortality rates have fallen by 66 percent among all age groups and by 71 percent among children under five years old since 2000. Still, malaria remains one of the top causes of morbidity in pregnant women and mortality in children under five, which is why a renewed effort is key to achieve a malaria-free world.
“Replenishment of the Global Fund for 2017-19 was confirmed on 16 September 2016 at the Global Fund Replenishment Conference, taking place in Montreal, Canada,” the statement.
