World Malaria Day 2019 Statement

When the global health community learned that decades-worth of unprecedented progress against malaria was beginning to stall—we did not hesitate. We took action. 

Under the leadership of Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization (WHO) and their partners mobilized quickly to develop a strategy—High burden to high impact: a targeted malaria response—to provide strategic support to those countries with the greatest burden of the disease, to get them back on track to meet our ambitious but achievable goals toward ending malaria.

But public health emergencies require more than a strategy. They require real commitment, both political and financial, to make good on their ambitions. This year is a particularly critical year in ensuring continued commitment toward global health: the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria—the world’s leading financier of the three diseases’ prevention, treatment, and care—is up for replenishment.

The Global Fund’s fundraising target of $14 billion for the next three-year cycle will help save 16 million lives, cut the mortality rate of HIV, TB and malaria in half, and build stronger health systems by 2023. A fully replenished Global Fund is essential to furthering the tremendous gains we’ve achieved against the three diseases. Anything less could be the difference between life and death for millions of people around the world.

Venezuela serves as a cautionary tale of what can happen when we lack the political and financial commitments that fortify vigilant and strong health systems. Once a leader in malaria elimination, Venezuela’s ongoing humanitarian crisis has led to a surge in malaria cases and was responsible for 84% of the increase in infections in the Americas in 2017. With its Ministry of Health drastically under-resourced, Venezuela risks becoming a hemispheric emergency, as nearly 3 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants flee to other countries across the continent. 

But unplanned catastrophes, either man-made or natural, do not have to yield humanitarian crises. Malawi, in contrast, is a beacon of what can be achieved with strong leadership. In the wake of Cyclone Idai’s devastation, Malawi, in collaboration with WHO and other partners, has responded immediately to the needs of those affected—providing hundreds of thousands of doses of the cholera vaccine and putting processes in place to avert anticipated malaria surges. 

Malawi is just one example of strong political leadership across the globe, from India to Rwanda, Ethiopia to Pakistan, who are driving progress against malaria despite great obstacles.

We have the tools to make malaria history—but do we have what it takes? I believe that we do.

This World Malaria Day, I stand in solidarity with partners the world over, ready to do what it takes—and take action.