“Malaria presents a disproportionate burden on the Children from Global South. PPD member countries are urged to increase Global South to South Cooperation to End Malaria for Good”
The April 25th, World Malaria Day, PPD Secretariat observes the day with the member countries by reminding them about the impact of malaria on children. This year’s global theme for World Malaria Day is End Malaria for Good.
According to WHO 400,000 people are failing annually due to Malaria. Sub-Saharan Africa carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria 
burden. WHO indicated that in 2015, the region was home to 90% of malaria cases and 92% of malaria deaths. “The burden of Malaria related death among children (0-4 years) across PPD member countries specially members of African region is quiet alarming” said, Dr. Joe Thomas, the Executive Director of PPD. According to WHO World Malaria Report (2016) One child dies from malaria every two minutes.
Malaria is a leading killer of children under 5 years of age. Some population groups are at considerably higher risk of contracting malaria including infants, children, pregnant women and patients with HIV/AIDS, migrants, mobile populations and travellers. In such context, national malaria control programmes need to take special measures to protect these population groups from malaria infection, taking into consideration their specific circumstances.
Please see the following figure, PPD member countries marked in red are in the high risk of malaria among the population group of under- 4 years of age.
PPD secretariat would like to remind the member countries to enhance their advocacy aligned with WHO-recommended tools, on core vector control measures and preventive treatment strategies for the most vulnerable groups of the population .
On the occasion of the World Malaria Day, PPD secretariat would like to call upon all the member countries to increase investments in both research and programmes to defeat malaria to improve the quality and well being of their population. Malaria is a disproportionate burden for Global- South and Dr Thomas, urged the member countries of PPD “to fight against Malaria through greater South -South cooperation”.
A world free of the burden of malaria will be a safer and healthier world for all and let’s fight to End Malaria for Good.
About PPD: Partners in Population and Development is an intergovernmental alliance comprising 26 developing countries. It provides a mechanism for promoting partnership and cooperation among member countries with a view to achieving the goals of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), its Programme of Action and the Sustainable Development Goals. It holds permanent observer status in the General Assembly. The current member countries of the alliance are Bangladesh, Benin, China, Colombia,Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, Uganda, Viet Nam, Yemen and Zimbabwe. PPD represents more than 59% of the world population. For more information, visit: www.partners-popdev.org
For further details please contact: Masuma Billah, Partners in Population and Development (PPD), masuma@ppdsec.org