Published: 8 November 2019

Today, the United Republic of Tanzania announced the launch of its first national Zero Malaria Starts with Me campaign, becoming the 11th nation to join the ever-growing Pan-African movement. The campaign was launched during the Southern African Community (SADC) Malaria Day that was commemorated on the sidelines of the SADC Health Minister’s Meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. At the national level, the campaign seeks to mobilise political will, additional resources (especially from domestic sources), and community ownership in the fight against malaria.

Significant progress has been made in Africa with a 40 per cent reduction in mortality rates and 20 per reduction of incidence in this decade alone. However the World Health Organisation (WHO) World Malaria Report showed that malaria cases in the 10 highest burden countries in sub-Saharan Africa were on the rise. Zero Malaria Starts with Me therefore aims to speed up progress by inspiring a continent-wide movement to drive malaria elimination. Accounting for 5% of global malaria deaths, Tanzania is among the highest burden countries with 93% of the population at risk of malaria.

The Pan-African movement seeks to build community ownership of malaria efforts and increase political commitment for malaria elimination against malaria by:

• Engaging political leaders at all levels;
• Mobilising resources and funding;
• Empowering communities to hold leaders accountable in the fight against malaria.

Tanzania joins Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Eswatini, Niger, Uganda, Zambia, Senegal, Mauritania and Mozambique to have rolled out national Zero Malaria initiatives since the Pan-African launch led by the RBM Partnership to End Malaria and the African Union Commission in July 2018. Starting in Senegal in 2014, the Zero Malaria Movement now spans across the continent.

Alongside the launch of its Zero Malaria Starts with Me campaign, Tanzanian officials commemorated SADC Malaria Day with the launch of the Tanzania malaria scorecard p that will further enhance accountability and action towards malaria control and elimination An innovative app was also launched to enhance the use of the scorecard to drive action, including by parliamentarians.

The launch also saw a visit to the country’s Medical Stores Department – an autonomous department responsible for the delivery and management of approved medicines and medical supplies, and included demonstrations of vector control including LLINs and larvicides, showing the huge potential that Africa., has to locally manufacture commodities.

Honorable Dr. Ummy A. Mwalimu (MP), Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly & Children said: “The launch of the Zero Malaria Starts With Me Campaign builds on our sustained efforts to make sure that malaria prevention and treatment services reach all areas in need. The campaign will foster partnerships and provide for leadership and accountability including resource mobilization. However to achieve effective results and eliminate malaria we need to ensure that we reach and mobilise our communities to be active champions in malaria interventions, including larviciding.”

Dr Abdourahmane Diallo, Chief Executive Officer, RBM Partnership to End Malaria, said: “We are thrilled that Tanzania has joined the ever-growing list of nations to declare Zero Malaria Starts with Me on SADC Malaria Day. As a high burden country, this is an important moment for Tanzania to make progress against the disease, and ultimately end malaria. Through this initiative, communities will be able hold their leaders accountable in the fight against malaria, to ensure that much needed progress is driven.

We believe that we are stronger when we work together, and we hope that other high-burden nations follow Tanzania in stepping up the fight and joining our campaign to save even more lives from this deadly, but treatable disease.”

Joy Phumaphi, Executive Secretary, The African Leaders Malaria Alliance, said: “The launch of the Zero Malaria Starts With Me Campaign and the Tanzania malaria scorecard for accountability and action and accompanying app reaffirms the commitment of the Tanzanian leadership to achieve national and continental targets to eliminate malaria by 2030. Increasing domestic investments in malaria including an increased role for the private sector to work with the public sector to mobilise ring-fenced resources for malaria will ensure that the responses are sustainable, contributing to healthier lives, human capital development and shared prosperity and economic growth.”

Contact

To arrange an interview or find out more about the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, please contact the RBM Partnership Press Office at Grayling on RBMPartnership@grayling.com or call +44 (0) 20 3861 3747.

To find out more information about Zero Malaria Starts with Me and to access the toolkit, please visit https://zeromalaria.africa/.

About the RBM Partnership to End Malaria

The RBM Partnership to End Malaria is the largest global platform for coordinated action against malaria. Originally established as Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership in 1998, it mobilises for action and resources and forges consensus among partners. The Partnership is comprised of more than 500 partners, including malaria endemic countries, their bilateral and multilateral development partners, the private sector, nongovernmental and community-based organisations, foundations, and research and academic institutions. endmalaria.org
Facebook – @RBMPartnership
Twitter – @endmalaria

About ALMA

Founded in 2009, the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) is a ground-breaking coalition of African heads of state and government working across country and regional borders to achieve a malaria-free Africa by 2030. All member states of the African Union are members of ALMA. www.alma2030.org