Launch of new European website on malaria to mark the Day of the African Child
19 June 2007
BRUSSELS 16 JUNE 2007; As the global community marks the Day of the African Child, the European Alliance Against Malaria is launching a new website focusing on European efforts in the global fight against malaria. Malaria is one of the leading causes of death and disease worldwide, affecting 40 per cent of the world's population and putting 3.2 billion people at risk in 107 countries.[1] Children under five in Africa are one of the biggest groups that fall prey to the disease, or suffer lifelong consequences of their mother contracting the disease when pregnant.
The website will provide government officials and decision makers, members of civil society and media professionals with a wealth of information, materials, best practices and events organized to raise awareness of and policy solutions to this preventable and treatable killer disease.
The European Alliance Against Malaria, a committed group of civil society organizations from Brussels, France, Germany, Spain and the UK, is the first European initiative of its kind. As a complement to advocacy work carried out by the Alliance partners in each country and at EU institution level, the multilingual website and monthly e-publication being launched today will focus on news, issues and progress achieved by our partner organizations and others in the malaria movement globally.
The Alliance's newsletter will be published bi-monthly, starting in July. You can subscribe to the e-newsletter by registering on our website.
http://www.europeanallianceagainstmalaria.org/
Note to Editors
- The fight against Malaria is part of the UN development goals (Goal n°6: Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases)
- Though Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease, an estimated 500 million cases of malaria every year cause up to 3 million deaths, of which an estimated 90 percent occur in Sub-Saharan Africa
- There is a global requirement of about $3 billion a year to make sure malaria is eradicated by 2015 and currently, less than $1 billion per year is available for malaria resources
- To be successful, the fight against malaria must be a comprehensive one and include the distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets, the control of mosquitoes' populations and the dissemination of anti-malarial drugs such as artemisinin-based combination therapies.
- Information and education campaigns are also essential to ensure long-lasting and effective progress in the fight against the disease.
The members of the European Alliance Against Malaria are:
- Red Cross EU Office, Brussels
- German Foundation for World Population (DSW), Germany and Brussels
- European Parliamentary Forum, Brussels
- German Red Cross, Germany
- Friends of the Global Fund Europe, France
- Equilibres et Populations, France
- Spanish Red Cross, Spain
- Spanish Federation of Family Planning, Spain
- Malaria Consortium, United Kingdom
- Bartley Robbs Consultants, United Kingdom
- Global Health Advocates, United Kingdom
For more details:
Stecy Yghemonos, Project Coordinator
Tel. +32 (0)2 235 06 88
Stecy.yghemonos@redcross-eu.net
[1] World Malaria Report 2005 prepared by Roll Back Malaria, World Health Organization and UNICEF, p. 11, Geneva.
