This World Malaria Day 2011, the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership has adopted the theme Achieving Progress and Impact to celebrate the successful results of these past efforts but also highlight the significant challenges that still remain and emphasise how much more must be done to reach near zero deaths by 2015.
Theme for World Malaria Day 2011- WMD 2011
''Achieving Progress and Impact''
World Malaria Day was instituted by the World Health Assembly (WHA) at its 60th session in 2007. The day is commemorated every year on April 25 to create awareness about an ancient disease and the devastating impact it has on the lives of more than 3 billion people-half of humanity.
World Malaria Day is an opportunity for the global development and health communities to intensify their efforts in providing access to affordable, safe and effective anti-malarial combination treatments worldwide, as well as protective insecticide treated nets and other preventive measures.
The commemoration of the fourth World Malaria Day-marks a critical moment in time. At this stage, the Abuja Malaria Targets adopted in April 2000 should have been reached and Universal Coverage with all malaria interventions attained. WMD 2011 is the year in which significant progress is being assessed towards achieving near zero deaths by 2015.
In 2010 the global Roll Back Malaria Partnership focused on capturing the results of its collective efforts. Over the past twelve months, five reports have been published which document the progress made in global malaria control and the impact that has been achieved in terms of coverage and lives saved. This series of reports, entitled "RBM Progress & Impact" will continue through to the end of 2011 when new data will be made available.
In keeping with this consolidated effort by the global malaria community to highlight the reported successes and the remaining challenges in malaria control today, and to maximize the impact of substantial investments for this preventable and treatable disease, RBM Partners have determined the following theme for WMD 2011:
Partners are encouraged to adopt and promulgate this theme in their respective advocacy activities, and to combine it with slogans which reflect the many areas of progress as well as the continuing challenges that still confront malaria endemic countries.
World Malaria day-A Day to Act
25 April is a day to commemorate global efforts to control malaria. The theme of the fourth World Malaria Day - Achieving Progress and Impact - heralds the international community's renewed efforts make progress towards zero malaria deaths by 2015.
Malaria stakeholders will continue to report on the remaining challenges to reach the 2010 target of universal coverage of malaria treatment and prevention, as called for by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.
World Malaria Day represents a chance for all of us to make a difference. Whether you are a government, a company, a charity or an individual, you can roll back malaria and help generate broad gains in health and human development.
Reducing the impact of malaria is key to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, agreed by every United Nations Member State. These include not only combating the disease itself, but also goals related to women's and children's rights and health, access to education and the reduction of extreme poverty.
Hundreds of RBM partners - governments, international organizations, companies, academic and research institutions, foundations, NGOs and individuals - are already gaining ground against malaria. Diverse partner initiatives are guided by a single strategy, outlined in the Global Malaria Action Plan.
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The 2011 Achieving Progress and Impact theme invites the malaria community to share progress and impact made to date in order to encourage further action and investment against this disease.
We must identify the barriers that impede the implementation of the Global Malaria Action Plan. These include resource gaps to scale up interventions; produce and deliver nets and treatments; and develop endemic countries' capacity to control malaria. We must also promote new initiatives and solutions and assess their impact by monitoring malaria cases.
Help mark this year by highlighting your progress and count the strides we collectively make towards eventually eliminating malaria. Make the lives of every man, woman and child count.
World Malaria Day-25 April 2011
Approximately half of the world's population is at risk of malaria, particularly those living in lower-income countries. It infects more than 500 million people per year and kills more than 1 million. The burden of malaria is heaviest in sub-Saharan Africa but the disease also afflicts Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and even parts of Europe.
World Malaria Day - which was instituted by the World Health Assembly at its 60th session in May 2007 - is a day for recognizing the global effort to provide effective control of malaria. It is an opportunity:
- for countries in the affected regions to learn from each other's experiences and support each other's efforts;
- for new donors to join a global partnership against malaria;
- for research and academic institutions to flag their scientific advances to both experts and general public; and
- for international partners, companies and foundations to showcase their efforts and reflect on how to scale up what has worked.