Article by Sara Eftekhar (Nursing 1), our website reporter, who recently attended the Roll Back Malaria Partnership in Ottawa on November 3, 2010
“Women and children play a crucial role in development. Investing in their health is not only the right thing to do; it also builds stale, peaceful and productive societies. Increasing their investment has many benefits.”- Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General
On November 3rd in Ottawa, The Roll Back Malaria Partnership (RBM), a global partnership with the objective of eradicating deaths caused by malaria hosted an event in collaboration with The All-Party Parliamentary Caucus on Ending Malaria, The HIV/AIDS and TB Parliamentary Caucus and UNICEF to discuss Canada’s role in achieving the UN Health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which include HIV/AIDS, malaria and Tuberculosis. This event included a discussion on “the way forward to reach the Health MDGs” by a distinguished panel of experts on global health and a screening of a documentary titled “The Motherland Tour: A Journey of African Women” featuring Yvonne Chaka Chaka.
“The purpose of this event in Ottawa is to maintain political momentum with Canadian politicians to push forward with their contribution to the Global Fund……and eradicating malaria is a big part of the fight…” said Mr. So, The External Relations Officer for the Roll Back Malaria Partnership.
The Canadian government had demonstrated its support for the MDGs by pledging $1.1 billion for maternal, newborn and child health at the G8 summit in June and again this September at the New York Millennium Development Goals Summit, Prime Minister Stephen Harper addressed the UN pledging more money to the Global Fund in the fight against Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, bringing Canada’s total contribution to Maternal and Child Health initiatives to a total of $2.85 billion over the next five years.
During the event it was noted that malaria can significantly affect child and maternal health. It is the leading cause of child mortality in Africa; a child dies every forty five seconds from malaria. Malaria is responsible for 400,000 cases of maternal mortality due to maternal anemia and pregnant women are four times more likely to contract malaria. These deaths are unacceptable as stated by the panelists during the event, because malaria is completely preventable.
“Simple cost effective interventions can save lives and prevent malaria especially during pregnancy” explained Dr. Chopra, the Chief of Health at UNICEF during the panel discussion. The three key methods of malaria control are the use of insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent malaria transmission in homes, the effective and safe spraying of insecticides in homes and the treatment of malaria infection with ACTs (Artemisinin-based Conbination Therapies). A combination of these measures will help reduce malaria as demonstrated by countries such as Ehtiopia, Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania which have reduced malaria cases by 50%.
Maternal and child health means investing in the fight against malaria and making progress in all of the MDGs as they are all interconnected. Providing free health care services to women and children reduces poverty in families as women are able to spend money saved on food, housing and education. Malaria robs African governments $12 billion dollars annually on health care costs and preventing malaria would enhance economic development of those African countries.
When asked how Canada is doing in achieving the MDGs on a global scale, Dr. Shaw a Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of British Columbia and a G8/G20 Canada Spokesperson explained that with the help of Canada’s contributions, “We have made progress by reducing maternal deaths by 30% but we still have a long way to go…. Deaths are only the beginning of measuring progress…we need to help our finance ministers understand that investing in health is part of economic development and women are central to that.” Dr. Shaw also added that it’s essential to advocate to the Canadian governments to “invest in integration of care which means not just focusing on prevention of malaria but training health care workers, improving infrastructure and access to health services, empowering local women, family planning, immunization-all of which are key to improving maternal and child health.”
Since the Canadian government has demonstrated its support for improving the lives of women and children, it’s important to inspire Canadians to continue to fight for global health and to emphasize that all Canadians play an important part in achieving the MDGs which was the motivation behind the Roll Back Malaria event in Ottawa. About 5.7 million lives have been saved as a result of Canada’s contributions to the Global Fund but it’s still not enough. While the Harper government has pledged aid money for maternal and child health initiatives, it will take sustained political and civic pressure to ensure that these promises are fulfilled.
For more information about Canadian organizations fighting against malaria, visit:
www.spreadthenet.org
www.buyanet.org
www.unicef.ca
www.redcross.ca