Counting Malaria Out!
On April 25, 2011, the global malaria community marked the fourth World Malaria Day. The World Bank, one of the three largest sources of funds in the struggle to overcome malaria, pledged US$200 million in 2010 largely to provide people in Sub-Saharan Africa with bed nets that will protect them from malaria. This funding comes in support of a call for action by the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria.

The money is supporting malaria prevention efforts in countries hardest hit by the disease, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Zambia.

Since 2005, the World Bank has committed $762.8 million to the fight against malaria in Africa, more than a ten-fold increase since 2000-2005. It has financed 73.8 million treated mosquito nets and 25.3 million doses of effective malaria medication over the past five years.