Chioma Umeha
The African Union Commission and the RBM
Partnership to End Malaria with support
from African leaders on
Monday launched the ‘Zero Malaria
Starts with Me,’ a continent-wide campaign co-led get more people involved in
the fight against the disease that kills over 400,000 Africans every year.
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 per cent decline in cases and saved an estimated seven 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 per cent 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.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African
Union Commission observes, “Many African countries are implementing the Africa
Health Strategy to strengthen health systems and to achieve universal health
coverage. Significant global solidarity, shared responsibility, multisectoral
partnerships at various levels and community agency have been key levers to
change the game of addressing the three epidemic diseases – AIDS, TB and malaria
– on the continent. However, efforts to end malaria in Africa are at the
crossroads. The 2017 World Malaria Report signalled that, for the first time in
more than a decade, progress against malaria on the African continent has
stalled.”
Kesete Admasu, CEO of the RBM Partnership to End
Malaria notes, “The greatest threat to the fight against malaria is inaction
and complacency. We can be the generation to end this debilitating disease.
Zero Malaria Starts with Me campaign seeks to build a winning coalition to end
malaria in every country, bringing together partners from every sector. Zero
Malaria starts with me, with you and with all of us.”
Aïssata Issoufou Mahamadou, First Lady of Niger
says, “In order to eliminate malaria in Africa, collective awareness is more
than necessary and urgent. I salute the initiative “Zero Malaria Starts with
Me” and encourage everyone to get involved so that together we can overcome
this scourge.”
