European Malaria Alliance Welcomes G8 Commitments on Aid for Africa and Promises on Malaria

9 July 2008
European malaria advocates welcomed the reaffirmation by the G8 of their pledge of $60 billion for aid to Africa at the Hokkaido Summit in Japan (7-9 July 2008), and applauded the focused attention that G8 leaders gave to tackling malaria.

The European Alliance Against Malaria (EAAM) especially congratulates the commitments of G8 leaders who agreed to provide 100 million insecticide-treated nets by the end of 2010, as well as the recruitment and training of 1.4 million health workers who are vital in the fight against malaria.

What now needs to follow are specific targets and a concrete timeframe to meet these commitments, and more detail on what they entail.

EAAM believes the G8 has taken important and very necessary steps towards accelerating efforts to halt the spread of malaria in developing countries. However, whilst such malaria-specific commitments are encouraging, there remains a significant funding gap for malaria. Latest estimates are that $5.2 billion is needed and EAAM calls on the G8 leaders, other donors and malaria-endemic countries to continue and strengthen the amount of predictable and sustained funding for malaria control.

EAAM also urges that G8 efforts not only focus on malaria prevention, for example, with insecticide treated nets, but also tackles issues of expanding access to treatment to stop the needless deaths of up to three million people and children each year.

EAAM is a committed group of civil society organizations from Brussels, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom working to increase funding and improve malaria programmes. EAAM is determined to build on the global momentum to conquer malaria - a disease that is entirely preventable and treatable, yet which kills up to three million a people a year, costs Africa and it's poorest $12 billion annually and will hamper global efforts to reduce poverty.

For more information go to www.europeanallianceagainstmalaria.org

To read the various documents that have come out of the G8, click here