The continent-wide campaign co-led by the African Union Commission and the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, and supported by African leaders, will 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, the campaign seeks to re-ignite 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 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 African Heads of State and Government, 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 re-ignite grassroots 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.”
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, and we cannot win this fight against malaria alone.”
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.
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