Blogs examine malaria fight in recognition of World Malaria Day

Wednesday, April 25, marked World Malaria Day, which this year had the theme "Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria." The following blogs address the fight against malaria.

• Mark Leon Goldberg, U.N. Dispatch: "There is simply less money available for the global fight against infectious diseases. This is why groups like Roll Back Malaria are so concerned about keeping up the incredible progress that has been made in humanity's fight against this terrible disease," Goldberg, managing editor of U.N. Dispatch, writes. "We need to diversify how we fund the global fight against diseases like malaria," he continues, and discusses the work of UNITAID, "the world's laboratory for innovative financing" in Geneva. He concludes, "Granting the Peace Prize for UNITAID's pioneering work in innovative financing would introduce the concept to everyday people around the world. It would give innovative financing for development the spotlight it deserves as a way to sustain a more healthy and productive planet" (4/25).
• Jonathan Hale, USAID "IMPACTblog": "USAID has started to work with Russia to address global development challenges around the world," Hale, USAID deputy administrator for Europe and Eurasia, writes. "Last year, we agreed to work together to help eradicate polio. We are now exploring how we could cooperate to control malaria in Africa and the Asia Pacific to save children, improve maternal health, reduce suffering, and promote economic development," he continues, noting, "In talks with Russian officials, we discussed collaborating on training and capacity building, evaluation, operational research, advocacy and resource mobilization in support of national malaria control plans in third countries" (4/25).
• Erin Hohlfelder, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations' "Impatient Optimists": "In this new era of austerity, advocates fighting for more money for programs such as [the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI)] and the Global Fund need to make sure we are ready for a fight," Hohlfelder, policy manager for health at ONE, writes, adding, "And to arm ourselves, we need to remember not just the easy development jargon about 'cost effective solutions' (though of course they are incredibly important too), but also the real, brutal impact of a disease our programs are aiming to end." She concludes, "My hope is that we can redouble our efforts to scale up access to life-saving treatment, so that by 2015, regardless of where someone lives, a death from malaria is nothing more than a bad dream" (4/24).
• Amanda Makulec, USAID's "IMPACTblog": "Without a robust logistics system, bednets could easily remain unopened and packaged for transport, rather than hanging over the beds of small children and pregnant women in rural Uganda or elsewhere; [artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs)] may not be delivered to rural health facilities and remain in a warehouse; and [rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs)] may never be provided to community health workers to enable them to rapidly diagnose malaria in a child's blood using only a small sample," Makulec, a monitoring and evaluation associate with John Snow, Inc., writes. She describes the USAID | DELIVER PROJECT, implemented by John Snow, Inc. and various partners, which is responsible for procuring and delivering malaria commodities for the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI). "On this World Malaria Day, let's celebrate the achievements that have been made not only in the number of bednets procured and distributed, but also the immense achievements of the people and programs who make it possible to get the bednets and other commodities to the places they're most needed," she writes (4/25).