ACCRA, 27 DECEMBER, 2010: The African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), an advocacy network of scientists and journalists, has urged African governments and policy makers to allocate more resources to the prevention and control of malaria.

“The success of various malaria initiatives depend on political will, dedication of health workers, and above all, the willingness of the individual to seek prompt treatment and use the available tools to prevent or treat the disease,” it says.

a statement issued here by Charity Binka, the Executive Secretary of AMMREN, noted that by the time the Christmas festive period was over, 21,000 children worldwide would be killed by malaria, the majority of them from the African continent.

It said as families got together for the festive occasion, it was also important that they spared a moment and reflected on malaria, a disease which could be prevented and treated but which continued to kill needlessly.

the statement said 10 years ago in Abuja, Nigeria, African leaders promised to halve the malaria mortality as well as agreed that at least 60 per cent of those suffering from the disease would have prompt access to, and were able to correctly use, affordable and appropriate treatment within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms.

the leaders also said at least 60 per cent of those at risk of malaria, particularly children under five years and pregnant women, would benefit from the most suitable combination of personal and community protective measures such as insecticide treated mosquito nets.

However, the statement said: “A whole decade has passed, yet we are nowhere near achieving the targets set.”

AMMREN also observed that some countries had taken up the challenge to introduce some policies which were yielding results, such as the launching of a nationwide distribution of mosquito nets.

the statement said there was an urgent need to step up education on malaria prevention and treatment to end the needless deaths and loss of man hours which were affecting productivity.

AMMREN, it said, was also calling on partners and stakeholders to keep up the pressure at this time when a lot of global effort had gone into helping Africa to deal with the scourge of malaria.

the good news, the statement said, was that the existing tools for malaria prevention and treatment such as Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS), Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) and Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT), were reliable and could protect lives.

“What is needed now is the willingness of those afflicted by the disease to take action to push out malaria from Africa,” it said.

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