Breaking malaria’s grip

A global movement is making progress against the disease.

April 23, 2009

Any organization with operations in Africa knows the cost of malaria. The disease accounts for 40 percent of Africa’s health expenditures and costs an estimated $12 billion in lost productivity annually.

The human cost is even greater. Malaria is a tragedy for Africa, killing more than 1 million people a year, most of them pregnant women and children under five.

But times are changing. We’ve learned that only a sustained, coordinated, cross-border approach is effective against a mosquito-borne disease like malaria.

So today, an unprecedented effort by governments, businesses and NGOs is mobilized against malaria. We are leveraging each other’s strengths, expanding education and prevention, and developing new medicines.

We also are employing modern business methods to ensure accountability and results. This includes tracking distribution and use of bed nets and medicines throughout communities in need.

These efforts are paying off. Deaths are down by more than 50 percent in several countries, including Rwanda and Ethiopia.

On April 25, the international community will mark World Malaria Day. It is a day to acknowledge our successes — such as the recent introduction of Coartem Dispersible, the world’s first malaria medication for children. ExxonMobil helped fund the development of this medicine by Novartis, in partnership with the nonprofit Medicines for Malaria Venture.

But it is also a day to acknowledge that many challenges remain. For example, broad distribution of preventative and lifesaving measures — including Coartem-D, bed nets and public health information — is difficult in countries that lack sufficient infrastructure to fight malaria.

To that end, the Malaria Capital Campaign, co-chaired by ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson, is seeking to raise $100 million from corporations and other donors with the goal of providing all at-risk Africans with malaria prevention and treatment tools by the end of 2010.

We’re also helping affected countries strengthen their response capabilities. For example, the Global Health Group at the University of California, San Francisco, with support from ExxonMobil and global experts, has produced two landmark policy guides containing recommendations, financing requirements and technical insight to help countries progress down the path of malaria elimination.

We know what works in the fight against malaria, and it’s time to accelerate the use of these proven tools. It is time, finally, to break malaria’s grip on children, society and Africa's economy.