All Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases launches its fourth report on delivery

17 December 2008
London, Wednesday 17th December 2008. Today, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria & Neglected Tropical Diseases (APPMG) publishes its fourth ground-breaking report entitled "Delivering Malaria Control to Those in Need: How to Succeed in a Time of Renewed Hope".

The report, authored by Professor Christopher Whitty of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine with the assistance of Dr Sylvia Meek of Malaria Consortium, concludes that no child or adult should die of malaria given the availability of the very effective tools both to prevent and treat. The millions of deaths annually are largely due to failure of delivery of these tools to those who need them, particularly the poorest, and especially children. The effect of improved delivery on malaria control is clearly shown in countries such as Ethiopia, Rwanda and Eritrea, and the report calls for existing failures to be addressed in order to defeat the disease.

The report has six key recommendations arising from its conclusions.

   1. Net delivery systems must also promote net use and retention.
   2. Decisions regarding delivery of treatment should involve public sector, civil society and private sector. Decisions should be based on evidence of what works and not ideology.
   3. Treatment and prevention interventions must be context specific and country tailored.
   4. New drugs and insecticide development are essential. This should occur in parallel with investment in research into better ways to deliver our existing tools.
   5. It is vital that funding needs to be increased, sustained and predictable.
   6. Political support is required for more coordination of efforts globally and nationally.

Stephen O'Brien, Chair of the APPMG, said "Malaria remains one of the biggest killers of children and pregnant women, but the evidence shows that there has been real progress in recent years. Now that there are many effective new tools available, the challenge is how they can be delivered to the right place at the right time."

The APPMG was created in 2004 to raise awareness of the scourge of malaria world-wide and particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The APPMG has been particularly successful in drawing on a depth and breadth of evidence about all aspects of malaria, often bringing together experiences from across countries and institutions.

Notes to editors:

The report will be launched today in London, in Committee Room 6, House of Commons, at 4pm. It is available to download here and also at http://www.appmg-malaria.org.uk/

For any media enquiries, please contact:

Peter Newton, Programme and Business Development Director, Malaria Consortium, [email protected] , Tel: +44 (0)20 7549 0207