WMD 2018: CAMA, Access Bank scale up investment in malaria eradication

Corporate Alliance on Malaria in Africa, CAMA in partnership with Access Bank Plc and other Corporate Society Organisations (CSOs) will tomorrow, April 26th, hold a Malaria Forum in Lagos tagged; “Accelerating Investment to Bring Malaria to Zero”.

The forum which seeks to bring together group of business executives, corporate health managers, technical experts, government officials, program implementers and global health community to discuss strategies to accelerate investment to bring malaria to Zero in Nigeria and Africa will take place at Access Bank Office in Victoria Island, Lagos.

The gathering aimed to showcase the impact of malaria investment by the private sector on key indicators such as key achievements and innovations.

The challenges and opportunities facing malaria elimination in the country. Exchange knowledge on best practices for workplace malaria programs. Feature partnership opportunities for malaria elimination in Nigeria.

According to the Director of the Global Malaria Programme at WHO, Pedro Alonso, “if we are to get the global malaria response back on track, supporting the most heavily affected countries in the African Region must be the primary focus.”

“The 2017 World Malaria Report, has also disclosed that progress made in global malaria control is stalling, and risks going backwards without urgent action. Meeting global malaria targets and the aspirations of Nigeria’s national malaria strategic plan will only be possible through greater investment and expanded coverage of core tools to prevent, diagnose and treat malaria.

Head, Sustainability Access Bank PLC, Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan said that Investment on Malaria will yield huge returns through increased economic productivity , number of hours in school and lives saved.

“It makes business sense to mobilise resources and competence to end malaria in Africa.”

“World Malaria Day, held annually on April 25th, is an opportunity to highlight advances in malaria prevention and control and to commit to continued action to accelerate progress against this deadly disease.

“This year’s theme –Ready To Beat Malaria– marks the importance of collective responsibility and commitment of the global malaria community in bringing together people on working towards a world free of malaria. The theme also puts the exemplary progress achieved in tackling malaria under the spotlight. It also puts focus on disturbing trends captured in World Malaria Report in 2017.

Speakers at the event will include the Honorable Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, Commissioner for Health Lagos State, Dr. Olajide Idris and GBCHealth President, Nancy Wildfier-Field with a video message from Christoph Benn, Head of External Relations for the Global Fund and a host of private sector leaders; as well as representatives from ExxonMobil, Chevron, Nigeria Institute of Medical Research, Access Bank, Private Sector Health Alliance, Nigerian Breweries and Dangote Foundation.

During the meeting, CAMA an alliance of global companies from a variety of sectors who are committed to the global malaria fight will launch a case study report on best in class malaria programs.

The report includes the first-ever mapping of private sector malaria investments in Nigeria and offers suggestions for creating additional impact as the country moves toward malaria elimination amongst others.

The Corporate Alliance on Malaria in Africa (CAMA) is a GBCHealth-led initiative to drive partnerships for malaria control and elimination.

GBCHealth in the same vein, serves as a hub for business engagement on the world’s most pressing global health issues. Since 2001 GBCHealth have helped hundreds of companies develop and implement their own global health programs, brokered countless global and local public-private partnerships and effectively driven business advocacy nationally and globally in service of public health.