“Our Region, therefore, continues to be hardest hit by this deadly disease partly because too many people do not have access to preventive and curative interventions. Nearly 30 per cent of the population in most African countries cannot access essential health services, and most people face unacceptably high expenditures on health care.
“On investments, we are responsible for increasing funding for malaria interventions through primary health care approaches so that malaria services are accessed by the most vulnerable populations wherever they are. In 2021, endemic countries and partners mobilized only 50 per cent of the estimated $ 7.3 billion required globally to stay on track to defeat malaria. We, therefore, call on our Member States to keep malaria high on their agendas as they allocate resources to health.
“New tools and strategies are needed to address the threats of drug resistance, insecticide resistance, and new invasive vectors compromising gains in vector control,” she said.