New York - The United Nations issued a call Friday for ending malaria deaths worldwide by 2010, offering programmes that it called "bold but achievable," including the distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets to 107 countries where malaria is endemic.
The call was made on World Malaria Day to highlight the importance of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), one of which is to halt and reverse the spread of malaria worldwide by 2015. The 2010 target was aimed at redoubling efforts as many countries were falling behind at mid-point of implementing the MDGs.
"As we passed the mid-point in the race towards the MDGs, we desperately need to step up our efforts to roll back malaria," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a message.
He and the UN officials in charge of the malaria programme said ending malaria deaths universally is possible if indoor residual spray and bed nets treated for long-lasting insecticide are distributed to all people at risks, particularly women and children in Africa.
The programme called for ensuring that all health facilities have access to effective malaria treatment and diagnosis, train and retain community health workers dealing with malaria and encourage research and development for longer term efforts to control, eliminate and eradicate malaria.
The UN estimated that more than 1 million people die of malaria each year, the majority are children and pregnant women. It called malaria a "disease without borders."
Halting and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria is one of eight goals the UN wanted to achieve by 2015. The others include ending poverty and hunger, universal primary education, and reduce child and maternal mortality.
Since 2003, most African countries where malaria is endemic had switched to more effective health measures to fight malaria, including the distribution by 2006 of 100 million doses of artemisinin-based combination therapy.
Distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets has tripled since 2006 in 20 African countries with most malaria cases. Ethiopia alone received 18 million such nets and Kenya 10 million nets since 2005. (dpa)
