Roll Back Malaria and The Global Malaria Action Plan | The Global Fund | The World Health Organisation | The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
THE WORLD'S RESPONSE
Roll Back Malaria and the Global Malaria Action Plan
The Roll Back Malaria Partnership (RBM) was launched in 1998 by the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, UNDP and the World Bank, in an effort to provide a coordinated global response to the disease. RBM’s overall strategy aims to reduce the impact of the disease by achieving universal coverage of malaria control interventions and through strengthening national health systems.
The Partnership is the global framework to implement coordinated action against malaria. It forges consensus among partners and mobilises resources. Partners comprise more than 500 partners, including malaria endemic countries, their bilateral and multilateral development partners, the private sector, non-government and community-based organisations, foundations, and research and academic institutions.
In 2008, world leaders and the global malaria community gathered in New York for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Malaria Summit in New York to endorse an ambitious Global Malaria Action Plan (GMAP).
GMAP provides a global framework for action to coordinate the efforts of the Roll Back Malaria partners. It presents
a comprehensive overview of the global malaria landscape
an evidence-based approach to deliver effective prevention and treatment to all people at risk
an estimate of the annual funding needs to achieve the goals of the RBM Partnership for 2010, 2015 and beyond.
The shared vision of GMAP and RBM is for a substantial and sustained reduction in the burden of malaria in the near future, and the eventual global eradication of malaria in the long term. To reach this vision, the targets of GMAP are to:
Achieve universal coverage of malaria control interventions for all populations at risk, with locally appropriate interventions for prevention and case management by 2010. Sustain universal coverage until coverage can gradually be targeted to high risk areas and seasons only
Reduce global malaria cases from 2000 levels by 50 percent in 2010 and by 75 percent in 2015
Reduce malaria deaths from 2000 levels by 50 percent in 2010 and to near zero by 2015
Eliminate malaria in 8-10 countries by 2015
In the long term, eradicate malaria world-wide by reducing the global incidence to zero through progressive elimination in countries.
To achieve these targets, GMAP outlines a three-part global strategy;
1. Control malaria to reduce the current burden and sustain control as long as necessary
2. Eliminate malaria over time country by country
3. Research new tools and approaches to support global control and elimination efforts
GMAP is a living document: as approaches and tools evolve to fight malaria, so will the plan.
The Global Fund
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is an international financing institution, created in 2002, to invest money in projects to fight these three devastating diseases. By 2010, it had committed over US$17 billion in 144 countries to support large-scale prevention, treatment and care programs. The Global Fund has enabled the distribution of 122 million bed nets and the delivery of 142.4 million drug treatments in its fight against malaria. The Global Fund is the world’s largest external source of finance and it provides three quarters of all international financing for malaria In turn, it is paid for and replenished on a voluntary pledge basis by nations periodically. However, the gap between pledges and contributions currently stands at $5 billion.
The World Health Organisation
The World Bank Organisation’s efforts in malaria operate through the Global Malaria Programme (GMP), which convenes experts to review evidence and set global policies. GMP's policy advice provides the benchmark for national malaria programmes and multilateral funding agencies. The unique position of the WHO, which has field presence in all malaria-endemic countries, allows the GMP to coordinate a harmonised global approach incorporating specific national programmes of malaria control. At the global level, the GMP promotes and directs:
global policy on malaria
monitors drug and insecticide resistance
ensures robust supply chain management
designs guidelines and training programmes
supports planning and managing of interventions
supports research
Above all, the GMP’s activities are focused on providing integrated solutions to various epidemiological and operational challenges. This is done by promoting evidence-based, appropriate strategies and reaching the most vulnerable populations.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The largest and most important private funding organisations to champion the issue of malaria is The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Foundation has made the eradication of malaria one of its top priorities in recent years and views the development of new tools, through technical innovation and scientific research, as the key to fighting malaria around the world.
Bill Gates himself also continues to work hard in promoting the global fight against malaria and advocating greater financial commitments from donors, governments and businesses.