Phnom Penh
Australia will work with Asia-Pacific leaders to accelerate the fight against malaria and tackle the emergence of drug resistant strains of the disease.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, speaking in Phnom Penh at the East Asia Summit, today outlined a commitment of $1 million to support the establishment of an Asia-Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance to bring countries of the Asia-Pacific together in the fight against malaria.
Malaria, a wholly preventable and treatable disease, killed more than 42,000 people in the Asia-Pacific in 2010 and causes more than 650,000 deaths worldwide every year. The emergence of drug resistant malaria is a serious threat to regional and global efforts to combat this public health challenge.
The Asia-Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance will promote regional political leadership and collaboration on combating malaria. Australian funding is expected to support the establishment of task forces to explore options to meet financing gaps, improve access to antimalarial medicines and technologies, and identify key research and development priorities.
The Alliance will complement this year's EAS leaders' declaration committing to a regional response to the growing threat of drug-resistant malaria.
The Alliance will also build on the agreement reached by Asia-Pacific regional leaders at the recent Malaria 2012 conference in Sydney to strengthen and coordinate the regional response to the disease. At this conference, Australia also committed $100 million in funding over the next four years to help reduce death and illness from malaria in the Asia-Pacific region.