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| WHO country representative in The Gambia Dr Thomas Sukwa |
Dr Thomas Sukwa said this amount is in addition to
about US$4.4 billion already mobilised from international partners and African
governments.
Speaking to journalists in Banjul during
a press briefing ahead of the 2013 World Malaria Day on 25 April,
the WHO country representative said there is need for increase in domestic
funding in Africa, where the proportion of domestic funding estimated as part
of overall funding was only 32% in 2011 compared to 43% in Asia and 86% in
Latin America.
“To highlight the funding gap, a campaign for the
three years will be launched on World Malaria Day [2013] under the theme
‘Invest in the Future: Defeat Malaria’,” he said.
History has shown that decrease in financial support
for fighting malaria, particularly in areas where significant progress has been
made, leads to a resurgence of the disease, thereby reversing years of efforts
and investment.
“Therefore, it is crucial that we stay on course as
malaria resurgence will remain a persistent threat until the disease is
eliminated altogether,” Dr Sukwa said.
Successful malaria control is critical to progress
on all the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - goals 4, 5 and
6 - as well as making significant contribution to progress in other areas
including reducing school absenteeism and fighting poverty.
