African leaders reaffirm commitment to eliminate malaria at African Union summit

"African leaders have reaffirmed their commitment to efforts to eliminate malaria, after they were informed that unprecedented success in scaling up malaria control interventions resulted in one-third reduction of malaria deaths in African in the last decade," PANA/Afriquejet reports. "[T]he leaders made the commitment at a high-level meeting presided over by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, chair of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA), in Addis Ababa, on the sidelines of the African Union (AU) summit which opened in the Ethiopian capital Sunday," the news service notes.

"Addressing the meeting, the Regional Director of WHO for Africa, Dr. Luis Sambo, stressed the need to accelerate the scaling up of proven high-impact interventions such as integrated vector management and long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs), indoor residual spraying, community case management using rapid diagnostic tests and medicines according to WHO treatment guidelines," PANA notes (7/16). Sirleaf "said Africa needs an additional $3.2 billion in the next three years to eliminate malaria," according to Devex, which reports the Confederation of African Football on Sunday partnered with ALMA and the United Against Malaria campaign "to raise malaria prevention and awareness across the region" (Ravelo, 7/16).