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02 June 2017 News flash

Monaco and the WHO are Working with the Sahel Countries to Eradicate Malaria

©Direction de la Communication / Manuel Vitali

On Thursday 1 June 2017, Ms. Isabelle Rosabrunetto, Director General of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, opened a meeting held by the World Health Organization on the eradication of malaria in the Sahel, in the presence of Dr. Magda Robalo, Director of the Communicable Diseases Cluster at the WHO's Regional Office for Africa and Dr. Kesete Admasu, Executive Director of the Secretariat of the "Roll Back Malaria" partnership.

The aim of this meeting was to increase efforts in the fight against malaria in seven Sahel countries (Cape Verde, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Chad), four of which are priority countries for Monaco's Official Development Assistance, namely Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal.

The two-day meeting, attended by representatives from the Health Ministries of these countries and WHO experts, was an opportunity to recall the importance that the Prince's Government places on combating malaria, which is one of the key programmes of Monaco's Official Development Assistance.  The Prince's Government has been supporting the WHO's malaria eradication programme since 2010, through the Department of International Cooperation.

In her speech at the opening ceremony, Isabelle Rosabrunetto assured the participants of "Monaco's loyal partnership, alongside the WHO and the Sahel countries, to eradicate this scourge, which affects so many human beings."

Malaria, which is a preventable and treatable disease, caused 429,000 deaths worldwide in 2015.  Children are the most affected, with the death of 303,000 children under five - one child every two minutes.  Sub-Saharan Africa bears the heaviest burden, with 92% of these deaths.

The WHO aims to reduce the number of new cases of malaria and the deaths caused by this disease by 90% by 2030, but currently there are insufficient financial resources.  To this end, the WHO is calling upon the affected countries and development partners to increase their investments to speed up the progress of eradicating malaria.

In her opening address, Dr. Magda Robalo reaffirmed that "theWHO will continue to play its role in this new partnership platform and welcomes the Monegasque Government's commitment to combating malaria in Africa, including this initiative to provide the Sahel countries with an appropriate framework for discussing and debating the best approaches to making progress on the road to eradication."

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https://en.gouv.mc/Policy-Practice/Monaco-Worldwide/Public-Aid-for-Development-and-International-Cooperation/News/Monaco-and-the-WHO-are-Working-with-the-Sahel-Countries-to-Eradicate-Malaria