| Malaria, one of the world's most important public health concerns, is on the rise again, causing over a million deaths a year, including an estimated 700,000 children. According to the WHO, malaria kills 3,000 children under 5 years old every day in absolute numbers—a death toll comparable to that of AIDS. Effective malaria control programs have led to dramatic declines in death in some countries, but obstacles remain in many of the world's poorest places. Mobilizing action to implement effective nation-wide programs is the focus of the Fourth Global Partnership Meeting to Roll Back Malaria, hosted by the World Bank in Washington D.C. on April 18th-19th 2001. The meeting brings together health and finance officials from twenty-one malaria-affected countries, representatives of NGOs, industry, the private sector, foundations, research institutions, donors and UN agencies to agree on methods to strengthen their capacity to expand malaria programs beyond the public and health sectors. "Roll Back Malaria movement has clearly made extraordinary progress in many countries across the world, enabling hundreds of thousands of people living in poor communities to better access prevention and treatment services," according to Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the World Health Organization. "But there remains much to be done. I hope that international and national agencies, encouraged by the progress, will commit additional resources so that actions to Roll Back Malaria can be scaled up and millions more can benefit." The rising numbers of people affected by malaria overwhelms national health services, sustains poverty and weakens societies, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where ninety percent of the cases occur. The cost of prevention and treatment consumes scarce household resources and the disease continues to have a negative impact on the health of children. "Malaria is much more than a health issue. In many countries, it is now endangering development, targeting the poor and, especially, children who have little or no defense," says James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank Group. "We need to give them those defenses. We have seen in Asia, Latin America and some African countries that malaria can be controlled with the right tools and resources. We need to work aggressively with local NGOs and the private sector to fight malaria at the local level, and work with governments to scale up local programs into national strategies." For example, through the efforts of a public-private partnership brokered in 1998 by the Roll Back Malaria global partnership, an alarming upsurge in malaria cases in Azerbaijan during the mid-90s is being reversed. The program, funded by a private sector multinational company and supported by international and other UN agencies, helped reduce malaria cases by over 50 percent during its first year of operation. In Ethiopia, incorporating community participation in the Tigray region has led to a 40 percent reduction in overall death rates among children under five. A network of more than 700 volunteer health workers treats more than half a million people for malaria every year in the region where less than half the population lives within easy reach of a health center. Mothers are also recruited to teach other mothers how to diagnose and treat malaria in the home. Death rates of children from villages outside this scheme continue to be high. In a different approach, Cambodia has put in effect the National Malaria Program which has significantly reduced the number of cases per year. Over half a million Cambodians live in hilly areas or work in forests where malaria is rife. More than 50 percent prevalence of malaria is found in children living in hill villages. This national program brings together several partners, including the International Federation of the Red Cross, the European Commission, WHO and others to fight outbreaks in the rural areas of the country. The meetings provide a platform for countries to share experiences on expanding country level partnerships to achieve effective nation-wide programs to reach the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) goals of halving the burden of malaria by 2010. They will also examine the role of the government and potential contributions of the private sector and NGOs to form better partnerships that will extend malaria programs beyond the public health sector. In addition, participants will discuss the challenges they face in mobilizing and effectively employing external resources, as well as the opportunities provided through national Poverty Reduction Strategies and the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative to scale-up successful malaria programs. The Roll Back Malaria (RBM) initiative was launched jointly by the World Bank, WHO, UNICEF and UNDP in November 1998 in New York. It responds to the concerns of heads of state in more than 30 malaria-affected countries and to the particular problems faced by their poor communities. RBM is headed by Dr. David Alnwick who was appointed as Project Manager in January 2001. Dr. Alnwick was Chief of the Health Section in the Program Division of UNICEF's New York Headquarters for the last three years. RBM is not a financing mechanism, but aims to support countries through global partnerships to ensure they have effective access to the information, technology and financial resources required to reduce the burden of malaria. Useful links: Click here for more information on the Roll Back Malaria movement. Click here for more information on World Health Organization. Click here for more information on UNICEF. Click here for more information on UNDP. Click here to learn more about the World Bank's work on Malaria. | 
RSS