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 The continent has made good progress in fighting the
mosquito-transmitted disease in recent decades, slashing death rates
by 66 percent overall since 2000. However Africa remains the world's
worst affected region, accounting for 88 percent of new cases and 90
percent of deaths.
In 2015, about 188 million Africans contracted malaria and 395,000
died of it - most of them children under five, according to the
alliance dedicated to ending malaria deaths in Africa.
Last week, the African Union adopted a roadmap to eradicate the
disease by 2030 following the lead of the United Nations which has
set ending malaria epidemics as one of its Sustainable Development
Goals for 2030.
ALMA's executive secretary, Joy Phumaphi, said African leaders were
"relatively comfortable" the target could be reached as a number of
new anti-malaria products were expected to be marketed in the next
five to 10 years.
"We have new vaccine, we have a new treatment for malaria, we have
new insecticides," Phumaphi told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in
an interview late on Wednesday.
"There is no reason why using all of these innovations when they
become available we should not be able to control malaria."
Currently there are more than 30 malaria vaccines under development.
Last year the Mosquirix vaccine, became the first to win regulatory
approval from the European Medicines Agency, but studies say its
efficacy is limited.
A drug able to wipe out all parasites in the body with a single dose
could also become available by 2019, according to the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation.
Researchers are also working on new insecticides used to spray
inside homes and in bed nets, as mosquitoes have grown resistant to
those already available.
INVESTMENT
Technology alone is not enough to beat malaria. Governments also
need to tackle corruption and reform their healthcare systems to
ensure resources are managed efficiently, Phumaphi said.
Member countries of ALMA, which comprises 49 of Africa's 54 states,
could do more to cut costs by regularly teaming up to place bulk
orders of equipment and medications, she added.
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Finally, for the 2030 goal to be reached, African nations and the
international community must keep up their investments in research,
treatment and prevention, Phumaphi said.
Global spending on malaria currently stands at $2.7 billion a year.
To achieve a target of a 90 percent cut in malaria cases by 2030,
spending will need to rise to $8.7 billion a year, according to WHO.
Phumaphi said she hoped the next U.S. administration would match
current levels of investment.
Washington is the biggest donor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria, having contributed almost $11 billions
since 2002.
Returns are high as malaria eradication could unlock $2 trillion in
economic benefits by 2040 from a healthy, more productive workforce
and health systems that are less burdened by the disease, according
to the United Nations.
"It's a very good area to invest," Phumaphi said.
(Reporting by Umberto Bacchi @UmbertoBacchi, Editing by Katie
Nguyen. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable
arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's
rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit
http://news.trust.org)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
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