Global Fund working to fight malaria in Latin America

In the ONE blog, Deborah Derrick, president of Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, writes about how the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is working to prevent malaria in Latin America. She notes that in San Pedro, Peru, "[t]he infection rate has dropped more than 12-fold in just a few years, ... thanks to community leadership, a dedicated focus on prevention and care, and support from the Global Fund." She continues, "The good news is: San Pedro is not alone. Investments in malaria over the last decade have helped protect millions of children and families from this mosquito-borne illness, with mortality rates declining 26 percent globally. During this same period, an estimated 1.1 million malaria deaths were averted across the world, primarily as a result of scale-up of treatment and prevention." Derrick notes "[t]he Global Fund is planning to support a new regional initiative under its new funding model ... [b]ringing together 10 countries from Mesoamerica and Hispaniola," with the aim of eliminating malaria in the region (4/19).