U.N. urges world to help Africa fight malaria

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a new campaign on World Malaria Day on Friday, calling on the world to ensure that all of Africa has access to basic malaria control measures by the end of 2010.

Ban said in a statement the African countries hardest hit by malaria have fallen behind in the fight against the disease, which the World Health Organization estimates kills 1.3 million people each year, mostly children under the age of five.

"In recent years, several African countries have made dramatic strides in malaria control, but the most affected nations remain off track to reach the goal of halting and reversing the incidence of the disease," Ban said.

"We need desperately to step up our efforts to roll back malaria."

More than 40 percent of the world's population in more than 100 countries is at risk of catching the mosquito-borne disease. Although malaria kills most of its victims in sub-Saharan Africa, the disease also hits people in much of Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Ban and his special envoy for malaria, Ray Chambers, said they wanted all African countries to have enough mosquito nets or quality household sprays for the entire population by December 31, 2010, along with sufficient malaria clinics and preventative treatment centres for high-risk pregnant women.

"This challenge is a clarion call to hurry up and eliminate malaria deaths," said Chambers.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health said in a separate statement that malaria has proven to be "remarkably resilient, resurging because of the emergence of drug-resistant parasites and insecticide-resistant mosquitoes."

Earlier this month, the WHO said climate change may exacerbate health crises, including malaria, in many countries already strained by inadequate hospitals, too few medical staff and uneven access to drugs.

It said new patterns of global rainfall, droughts and storms could accelerate the spread of diseases like malaria and dengue fever in some regions, creating serious problems for poor nations.

Ban urged aid agencies and non-governmental organizations to help by expanding their anti-malaria activities.

"We have the resources and the know-how, but we have less than 1,000 days before the end of 2010," he said.

One of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals aimed at halving poverty and improving the quality of life worldwide by 2015 is reversing the trend toward a constant increase in the incidence of malaria, HIV/AIDS, and other diseases.