By Aliko Dangote
World Malaria Day is observed each year on April 25, to underline the need for malaria control and total elimination. Adjunct to this is the galvanization of global efforts towards advocacy and sustained political will and investment all aimed at ending the scourge of the disease in identified communities. Since 2000, global partnerships and investments in the fight against malaria have yielded positive results – preventing some 2 billion malaria cases, saving 11.7 million lives, and putting eradication within reach.
At a historic Global Fund Replenishment meeting in Geneva, Switzerland in 2022, billions of dollars were pledged by donors to boost the fight against HIV, TB and Malaria. However, an unprecedented shortfall of more than 50% in global malaria funding is now holding countries back from maintaining life-saving malaria programmes at current levels, from and reaching everyone currently living with the risk of contracting malaria.
Consequently, according to the 2022 Malaria Report, 96% of malaria
deaths globally were found in 29 countries, with Nigeria sadly among the four
countries which accounted for just over half of all malaria deaths globally in
2021; alongside the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Niger and
the United Republic of Tanzania.
A number of biological threats have also emerged, putting existing
and future progress at risk. However, recent investments in R&D have
produced the most robust pipeline of malaria interventions in over a decade to
address these threats. Despite this remarkable progress, many proven interventions
are still waiting to be implemented at scale. Countries and partners are
working tirelessly to hold the line against malaria, implementing innovative
approaches to tailor and deliver lifesaving tools to the most vulnerable and
hard to reach communities.
However, funding gaps are contributing to declining progress in
the countries with the highest burden of malaria. Countries will not reap the
rewards of these investments without further commitment to scale-up and roll
out these innovations where they are needed most. For Africa to move forward,
we really have to get rid of malaria once and for all.
Despite
previous recorded successes in program implementation, there is an
ever-increasing need to step up our efforts and escalate investment. Now is the
time to take decisive action to deliver on our goal of zero malaria, spur
overall development and achieve 2030 targets. The commemoration of World
Malaria Day requires us to bolster the fight against this life-threatening
disease once and for all.
The theme of this year’s World Malaria Day: ‘Time to Deliver Zero
Malaria: Invest, Innovate, Implement’ highlights the need for urgent action and
further investment to ensure existing investments deliver maximum impact in the
fight to end malaria. As a United Nations (UN) Malaria Ambassador for Nigeria,
I would like to add my voice to the global call on countries and partners
around the world to:
Invest more in malaria programmes to bridge critical funding gaps
and accelerate progress towards total elimination of malaria.
Innovate further to deliver improved solutions to end malaria that
are tailored to those who need them most. Implement national strategies to
accelerate progress against this age-old disease, by demonstrating leadership,
adopting innovative and sustainable approaches, and scaling up national malaria
programmes to deliver lifesaving tools to those at highest risk.
On this World Malaria Day, I urge joint action to prioritise our
interventions to fight Malaria. In addition to the human suffering, the
economic toll of this disease on global productivity is very high, and even
more impactful in these times of economic fragility. More than ever, we must
collaborate to ensure that no child or person dies of malaria again. As we
celebrate our progress, we must also drive further progress toward malaria
elimination in Nigeria and Africa at large by focusing on two key areas:
Ensure that malaria elimination remains high on Nigeria’s public
health and development agenda with strong political commitment from leaders at
all levels; and
Advocate
at all levels to ensure sufficient funding to sustain the progress made so far,
as we jointly seek to end malaria for good. Encourage my fellow private sector
leaders to implement Malaria prevention and treatment programmes in their
companies, as we do across our businesses in the Dangote Group.
Happily enough, our fight against the malaria scourge has been
buoyed by the emergence of a new malaria vaccine – R21/Matrix-M, which was
developed by the University of Oxford and manufactured by the Serum Institute
of India.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control
(NAFDAC), which approved the R21 vaccine use after it conducted its in-house
checks, said Nigeria expects to get at least 100,000 doses of the vaccine in donations
soon.
All efforts must be made to sustain the adequate sourcing and
application of this innovative vaccine in the fight against malaria; akin to
the noble efforts made to ensure the eradication of polio in Nigeria and
Africa. We at the Aliko Dangote Foundation pledge to spearhead the collective
effort to ensure adequate provision, supply and application of this malaria
vaccine.
“In my role as the Chairman of the Nigeria End Malaria Council
(NEMC), my Foundation and I will continue to engage with the National Malaria
Elimination Programme (NMEP) and key stakeholders to support the efforts of
NMEP to address malaria in our workplaces, communities, and especially high
burden areas to renew commitments to help Nigeria attain its goal of malaria
elimination by 2030.
Together, we can save our children, families, nation, and
continent. The time to act is NOW!”
*Dangote,
GCON, is chairman, National Malaria Elimination Council (NMEC), and United
Nations (UN) Malaria Ambassador for Nigeria.
I shall write a reaction to this piece because it is driven more by vaccine globalisation politics than by medicine and value for life.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately Nigerians are ignorant about this politics and are mindless about the so-called "innovation", the statistical and literary languages used to advance and impose the "innovation", the globalisation politics (strategic imposition) of the use of Alhaji Dangote, and the effects of the application of the so-called "innovation".
*Prince Pieray Awele Odor
Independent Researcher and Public Good Promoter
OBIdient