[Malaria] WHO offical criticises misue of anti-malaria funds

from The Angola Press

The executive secretary of the "Roll back malaria" partnership, Awa Marie Coll-Seck, Monday denounced in Dakar the misuse of funds meant for the fight against malaria in African countries.

"There is a great mobilisation of development partners for the fight against malaria in Africa, but our countries must better organise to use resources allocated to the fight efficiently in order to achieve the desired objective," she said in opening remarks at a three-day sub-regional workshop on the implementation of anti-malaria programmes.

Some 100 participants (consultants, experts and programme coordinators) from West and Central Africa attending the workshop will identify strategies to facilitate a better use of the funds devoted to the fight against malaria in Africa.

Meanwhile, Senegalese minister of Health and Preventive Services Abdou Fall urged managers of the national malaria programme to redefine pragmatic management approaches and styles intended to reduce the difficulties or shortcomings in programme implementation.

"Despite the implemented prevention means and availability of efficient drugs, the rate of efficient operations remains desperately low, particularly among poor people and in rural areas," Fall observed.

Considered as a devastating scourge for humanity, particularly in Africa, malaria kills every year more than 1 million people, most of whom are children under the age of five.

The "Roll back malaria" partnership was established by the WHO, UNDP, UNICEF and WB in 1998, with the to reduce malaria-related morbidity by half by 2010.