Speech by Dr. Pierre Duplessis, Secretary General, Canadian Red Cross

Africa Malaria Day – April 25, 2005

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Abuja Declaration when leaders from 44 malaria-afflicted countries in Africa agreed to a series of goals, including halving of the world’s malaria burden by 2010. Three of the UN Millennium Development Goals also relate directly to combating malaria.

The theme for this year’s Africa Malaria Day - which is being celebrated in many locations around the world - is “Unite against Malaria”. No single organization can address the task of stopping malaria, but through strong partnerships at the national, regional and global levels we can make a difference.  Global partnerships that include governments, NGOs, the private sector and communities are key to achieving results in this fight.

Malaria brutally kills more than one million people every year. Sadly most of its victims are children.

We cannot turn our backs on malaria in Africa. It may not grab the headlines, but we must continue to strive to bring the topic to the forefront, through events such as this one today.

Here are some other alarming facts about this disease:

• There are approximately 300 to 500 million malaria infections worldwide each year that lead to more than one million deaths.
• 90% of the deaths from malaria occur in Africa.
• Over 75% of those who die because of malaria are African children under five years of age.
• Every 30 seconds an African child dies from malaria.
• Every day 25 million pregnant African women risk severe illness and harm to their children from a malaria infection.

Other key factors play a part in the rapid spread of this disease, especially in Africa:  the increasing resistance to anti-malarial drugs, coupled with widespread poverty, weak health infrastructure, and in some countries, civil unrest.

At the Canadian Red Cross, one of our key areas of work overseas is community health care and within that context we are focusing heavily on malaria prevention. One of the most effective, low cost methods to reduce malaria is through the use of insecticide-treated bed nets. These nets offer one of the best protections against the disease. It is estimated that at least six lives can be saved for every 1,000 children who sleep under a bed net.

In the last two years, we played a leadership role in mass bed net distribution campaigns in Zambia and Togo supported by CIDA. These campaigns which were integrated with mass immunization campaigns, would not have been successful without the contribution of several partners: the local Red Cross societies, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, UNICEF, World Health Organization, the private sector and NGOs.

So let us continue to build upon partnerships and strategies that can help prevent the spread of malaria. If we work together, pooling resources and sharing expertise, we can have a positive impact on the lives of people in Africa.

Posted April 28, 2005