Islamabad - The World Malaria Day celebrated across the globe including Pakistan yesterday.
The theme of the day was to provide a common platform to the countries for showcasing their successes in malaria control and unifying diverse initiatives in the changing global context. Malaria-endemic countries have made incredible gains against the disease in the last decade, but sustaining them will take extra efforts until the job is finished and malaria is eliminated worldwide.
While efforts to prevent, diagnose and treat malaria have gained important momentum over the past years, an annual shortfall in funding threatens to slow down progress, particularly across Africa where high-burden countries are facing critical funding gaps.
Unless the world can find a way to bridge the funding gaps and endemic countries have the resources and technical support they need to implement sound malaria control plans, malaria resurgence will likely take many more lives.
The theme for 2016 is “End Malaria For Good”. Following the great progress made under the Millennium Development Goals, it is important to build on this success and `end malaria for good’ under the Sustainable Development Goals.
The malaria fight is one of the most inspiring global health stories. Working together, endemic countries, donors, organizations, and communities have reached millions of people with effective tools, diagnosis, and treatment. Malaria mortality has decreased by 60 percent, with 6.2 million lives saved since 2000.