Abu Dhabi Awards $25 million to Roll Back Malaria Partnership

11 February 2010
London, 11 February 2010: The Abu Dhabi Government announced this week that it has awarded a five-year grant of US$25 million to support the work of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership (RBM) to scale-up malaria control worldwide and contribute to achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Executive Director Prof Awa Marie Coll-Seck said, "We are grateful to the Government of Abu Dhabi for this support. It provides a major boost to the RBM Partnership and sends an important message of encouragement to the international malaria community. We have evidence of significant progress in many endemic countries and this funding will have a direct impact upon the capacity of the Partnership to accelerate current advances and ensure that countries move closer to the RBM universal coverage targets and the malaria-related UN Millennium Development Goals,"

H. E. Zaid Al Siksek, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Health Authority, said: "We are proud and pleased to be part of this global philanthropic effort and to support the RBM Secretariat in facilitating RBM's leading role in ending malaria. We hope to establish a long-term collaboration with RBM to share experiences and exchange operational knowledge in tackling health challenges."

The UAE has not had a case of malaria transmission since 1997 and is now certified by the WHO as a malaria-free country. Its example, among others, has shown that an effective combination of prevention, diagnosis and treatment over a sustained period of time can reduce and eliminate the threat of malaria.

Malaria Consortium is a long standing member of RBM, the global framework for coordinated action against malaria. It provides a neutral platform for consensus-building and developing solutions to challenges in the implementation of malaria control interventions and strategies.

For more information, please visit http://www.rollbackmalaria.org/globaladvocacy/pr2010-02-09.html.