Malaria Advocacy: The European Alliance Against Malaria

Situation:

Malaria claims up to 3 million lives each year, with an estimated 300-500 million acute infections a year, 90% of which are in Africa, costing upwards of US$12 billion per annum. It is the world's invisible pandemic. A 2004 Gallup poll found that only two per cent of the world's population considers malaria an important health threat. Resources to address the malaria burden are not proportional to the extent of the devastation. This needs to change if we are serious about reducing the burden and recognizing the impact on the social and economic wellbeing and health of African society. In the case of malaria, advocacy will support all means possible to reduce the burden and suffering caused by the disease. Until recently there has not been a sustained, strategic approach to advocacy, there are few malaria advocates in Europe and little awareness about malaria within the EU.

Response:

The Malaria Consortium is the lead UK and technical partner in the newly formed European Alliance Against Malaria. This initiative connects and coordinates existing malaria advocacy efforts and to build a Europe wide alliance of malaria advocates. The role of the Alliance is to raise public awareness and gain political support, which will mobilize public and private resources for scaling up existing malaria control interventions and for the research and development of new interventions. The overall goal of the Alliance is to increase European Union (EU) decision-maker and civil society awareness of and commitment to increased funding and harmonized implementation priorities for effective malaria reduction.

The following three objectives contribute to achieve this goal:

• Increased political support in EU Institutions and 4 EU Member States for the fight against malaria.
• Stakeholders advocate for increased funding, effective operation and accountability of multilateral organisations.
• Media practitioners increasingly cover the issue of malaria control and advocate for more support.

The partners in the Alliance focus on: 

• Increased knowledge and awareness for political officials. 
• Strategic communications with stakeholders, parliamentarians and high-level decision-makers to reposition malaria within development aid policies, institutions and agencies. 
• EU and country level communications campaigns and media events to mobilize public awareness/knowledge/support for malaria programs The Alliance is a dynamic group of civil society organizations from Brussels (the EU level) and France, Germany, Spain and the UK:  
  • Red Cross EU Office, Belgium
  • German Foundation for World Population (DSW)
  • European Parliamentary Forum, Belgium
  • German Red Cross, Germany
  • Friends of the Global Fund Europe,
  • France Equilibres et Populations, France
  • Spanish Red Cross, Spain
  • Spanish Federation of Family Planning, Spain
  • Malaria Consortium, United Kingdom
  • Global Health Advocates, Switzerland
  • Bartley Robbs Consultants, United Kingdom

Recommended Link:

www.europeanallianceagainstmalaria.org

Photo: William Daniels