Funding commitments
Summit organizers announced that collective commitments of US$ 4.1 billion had been secured from governments, the private sector, philanthropists and international organizations. The commitments include an additional US$ 1 billion from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through 2023 to fund research and development efforts in the malaria fight. The Foundation co-convened the Summit, together with the RBM Partnership to End Malaria.
“We can't accept a world where malaria has been eliminated in some places and children continue to die in other places,” said Bill Gates, in his keynote address at the Summit. “Not when the disease is preventable, treatable, and beatable.”
Other commitments included US$ 2 billion in domestic co-financing to the Global Fund from malaria-affected countries; US$ 230 million in newly announced commitments from the United Kingdom Government; US$ 142 million from the Wellcome Trust; and US$ 318.7 million for malaria efforts in Nigeria pledged by the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, African Development Bank, the Global Fund and the Nigerian Government.
Malaria response at a crossroads
Increased funding and concerted action is urgently needed to reignite progress in the global response to malaria. According to the WHO World malaria report 2017, there were an estimated 216 million cases of malaria in 2016, marking a return to 2012 levels. Deaths stood at about 445 000, a similar number to the previous year.
“The latest data show that we are now at crossroads,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, speaking at the Summit alongside Bill Gates, HRH The Prince of Wales, Heads of State and other dignitaries. “If we relax our efforts, we know that malaria will come roaring back – and with a vengeance,” he added.
Dr Tedros speaks at the Malaria Summit in London
"If we relax our efforts #malaria will come roaring back—and with a vengeance. My message to leaders of malaria-affected countries is clear: this fight will only be won through your leadership.Focused investments in primary health care are essential"—@DrTedros
— WHO (@WHO) April 18, 2018
📽️@MalariaMustDie pic.twitter.com/EqhbhYqh5i
The current rate of progress is insufficient to achieve the near-term milestones of the WHO global malaria strategy, particularly in countries with a high burden of malaria. The 2020 global targets call for a 40% reduction in malaria case incidence and death rates.
The WHO Director-General noted the critical role of country ownership and strong health systems in driving progress. “My message to leaders of malaria-affected countries is clear: this fight will only be won through your leadership. To that end, focused investments in primary health care are essential.”
The call for continued investment in research and development was another key theme at the meeting. “If there is one lesson we have learned, it's that we have to keep innovating to control malaria, because conditions evolve,” noted Mr Gates in his opening address. “The mosquito and the parasite develop resistance to the interventions we use to fight them.”
Call to action
Leaders at the Summit also called for a new commitment to halve malaria across the Commonwealth within the next 5 years. The 53 Commonwealth Heads of State and Government took up this call when they met on 19-20 April 2018, adopting a new malaria commitment as articulated in the following communiqué:
“Heads welcomed global, regional and national efforts to combat malaria and other mosquito borne diseases, and committed to halve malaria across the Commonwealth by 2023. They also urged acceleration of efforts to reduce malaria globally by 90 percent by 2030… Heads agreed that progress on these commitments should be considered every two years at the Commonwealth Health Ministers’ Meeting and progress should be reported at CHOGM.”
Note:
1 Commonwealth Heads of State and Government Meeting or CHOGM.