---

---

United Nations (New York)

Africa: 2001-2010 - Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa

23 December 2008

---

document

The General Assembly,

Recalling that the period 2001–2010 has been proclaimed the Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa, by the General Assembly, and that combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases is included in the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration,

Recalling also its resolution 62/180 of 19 December 2007 and all previous resolutions concerning the struggle against malaria in developing countries, particularly in Africa,

Recalling resolution 60.18, adopted by the World Health Assembly on 23 May 2007, urging a broad range of national and international actions to scale up malaria control programmes,

Bearing in mind the relevant resolutions of the Economic and Social Council relating to the struggle against malaria and diarrhoeal diseases, in particular resolution 1998/36 of 30 July 1998,

Taking note of the declarations and decisions on health issues adopted by the Organization of African Unity, in particular the declaration and plan of action on the "Roll Back Malaria" initiative adopted at the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity, held in Abuja on 24 and 25 April 2000, as well as decision AHG/Dec.155 (XXXVI) concerning the implementation of that declaration and plan of action, adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity at its thirty-sixth ordinary session, held in Lomé from 10 to 12 July 2000,

Also taking note of the Maputo Declaration on Malaria, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other Related Infectious Diseases, adopted by the Assembly of the African Union at its second ordinary session, held in Maputo from 10 to 12 July 2003, and the Abuja call for accelerated action towards universal access to HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria services in Africa, issued by the Heads of State and Government of the African Union at the special summit of the African Union on HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, held in Abuja, from 2 to 4 May 2006,

Recognizing the linkages in efforts being made to reach the targets set at the Abuja Summit in 2000 as necessary and important for the attainment of the "Roll Back Malaria" goal and the targets of the Millennium Declaration by 2010 and 2015, respectively and welcomes in this regard the commitment of Member States to respond to the specific need of Africa,

Also recognizing that malaria-related ill health and deaths throughout the world can be substantially reduced with political commitment and commensurate resources if the public is educated and sensitized about malaria and appropriate health services are made available, particularly in countries where the disease is endemic,

Expressing concern about the continued morbidity, mortality and debility attributed to malaria and recalling that more efforts are needed if the 2010 malaria targets and 2015 malaria and millennium development goals targets are to be reached on time,

Commending the efforts of the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank and other partners to fight malaria over the years,

Taking note of the Roll Back Malaria Global Strategic Plan 2005–2015 and the Global Malaria Action Plan developed by the Roll Back Malaria Partnership,

1. Welcomes the report prepared by the World Health Organization, and calls for support for the recommendations contained therein;

2. Also welcomes the Roll Back Malaria Partnership's Global Malaria Action Plan, which for the first time provides a comprehensive plan for combating malaria in the short, medium, and long term, including giving further impetus to internationally agreed targets of universal coverage of malaria interventions to all at risk populations by 2010, of continuing the scale up to achieve near zero preventable deaths from malaria by 2015, and of eliminating and, with additional research and development, ultimately eradicating the disease;

3. Welcomes the theme of "malaria – a disease without borders" that was chosen for the first World Malaria Day  as well as activities undertaken by the Member States, relevant organizations of the United Nations system, international institutions, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and civil society to commemorate this day and further encourages them to continue to observe malaria day and to collaborate in the observance of the final two years of the Decade to Roll Back Malaria in order to raise public awareness and knowledge about prevention, control and treatment of malaria as well as the importance of meeting millennium development goals;

4. Also welcomes the designation by the Secretary-General of a Special Envoy for Malaria to raise the issue in collaboration with other UN organizations already working in those issues on the international political and development agendas and to work with national and global leaders to help secure the political will, the partnerships and the funds to drastically reduce malaria deaths by 2010 through increased access to protection and treatment, especially in Africa;

5. Welcomes the adoption by the 61st World Health Assembly of resolution 61.21, which adopted the global strategy and the agreed parts of the plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property;

6. Welcomes the increased funding for malaria interventions and for research and development of preventive and control tools from the international community, through funding from multilateral and bilateral sources and from the private sector, as well as by making predictable financing available through appropriate and effective aid modalities and in-country health financing mechanisms aligned with national priorities, which are key to strengthening health systems and promoting universal and equitable access to high-quality malaria prevention and treatment services;

7. Further welcoming recent commitments and initiatives to promote overall malaria prevention, control and treatment, including those announced at the 25th September 2008 High Level Event on the Millennium Development Goals

8. Welcoming also the World Health Assembly resolution 61.18 of 24 May 2008, which initiates annual monitoring by the World Health Assembly of achievements of heath related Millennium Development Goals.

9. Urges the international community to deliver on the programmes and activities at the country level in order to achieve internationally agreed targets on malaria;

10. Calls upon the international community to continue to support the "Roll Back Malaria" Partnership Secretariat and the RBM partner organizations, including the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the United Nations Children's Fund, as vital complementary sources of support for the efforts of malaria-endemic countries to combat the disease;

11. Appeals to the international community to work in a spirit of cooperation towards effective, increased, harmonized and sustained bilateral and multilateral assistance to combat malaria, including support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, in order to assist States, in particular malaria-endemic countries, to implement sound national plans, in particular health plans and sanitation plans, including malaria control strategies and integrated management of childhood illnesses, in a sustained and equitable way that, inter alia, contributes to health system development;

12. Further appeals to the malaria partners to resolve the financial and delivery bottlenecks that are responsible for stock-outs of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets, artemisinin-based combination therapies and rapid diagnostic tests at national levels, whenever they occur, including through the strengthening of the malaria programme management at country level.

13. Welcomes the contribution to the mobilization of additional and predictable resources for development by voluntary innovative financing initiatives taken by groups of Member States, and in this regard notes the International Drug Purchase Facility, UNITAID, the International Finance Facility for Immunization, IFFI, the Affordable Medicines Facility – Malaria, AMFM, the Global Alliance for Vaccines Initiative, GAVI, and the advance market commitment initiatives;

Be the first to Write a Comment!

---