Africa: Pres. Sirleaf Turns over Chairmanship of ALMA -Chairs AU Committee
on the Post-2015 Development Agenda
Allafrica.com 28 May 2013
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http://allafrica.com/stories/201305281272.html?viewall=1
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has turned over the chairmanship of the
African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) to the President of Mozambique, H.E.
Armando Guebuza.
According to a dispatch from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Liberian leader
performed the feat at the working luncheon of AIDS Watch Africa (AWA) where
13 African Heads of State and 50 other global leaders met on the side-lines
of the African Union Summit and reviewed progress towards implementing
transformative reforms in the AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB), and malaria responses
and pledged to accelerate the pace of change (increase annual domestic
funding for <
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health care, particularly AIDS, TB and malaria services).
African leaders also reviewed progress made in implementing a Roadmap on
Shared Responsibility and Global Solidarity for AIDS, TB and Malaria
Response in Africa, which they adopted last July to
<
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course for the continent's response to the three diseases.
AIDS Watch Africa (AWA), an advocacy platform for African Heads of State on
AIDS, TB and Malaria. They collaborate with the African Leaders Malaria
Alliance (ALMA).
Making special remarks during the luncheon before turning over the
leadership of ALMA, President Sirleaf said after realizing a year ago how
far the continent has come and how much further it has to go, agreed to lead
the big push to achieve near zero malaria deaths by December 31, 2015.
"Indeed, great progress has been made," she indicated, adding that during
her tenure they scaled up malaria control interventions, including
long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLIN), indoor residual spraying (
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diagnostic tests (RDTs) and artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs).
She further said that as a result of these interventions, nine African
countries including Algeria, Botswana, Cape Verde, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome
and Principe, South Africa, Swaziland and Eritrea have already achieved or
are on track to reduce malaria incidence by 75 percent while Zambia and
Madagascar are on track for a reduction of 50 percent to 75 percent by 2015.
"Overall," she pointed out, "there has been a 33 percent reduction in
malaria mortality across the African continent."
The Liberian leader applauded the African leaders for the big push that made
it to happen. She admitted that the gains are fragile and that the global
economic crisis has caused revenue streams to dwindle, thus requiring a
bigger and harder push to ensure success. "Today, we face a gap of 3.8
billion to achieve and sustain universal coverage of malaria interventions,"
she stressed, adding, "You will recall that at the ALMA Meeting of Heads of
State and Government during the January, 2013 Summit in Addis Ababa, we
recommitted to exploring innovative
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streams, increasing our domestic contributions to health in general and
malaria specifically, ensuring efficiencies across our massive procurement
processes and partnering with emerging donors while re-engaging traditional
donor," she reminded the African leaders and partners.
While appreciating the collaboration with AWA, President Sirleaf proposed a
focus meeting during the January 2014 African Union Summit and a joint
meeting with AWA during the June 2014 Meeting of the African Union to
maintain the momentum.
She encouraged The African leaders to take keen note of the ALMA scorecard
for accountability and action, along with their specific country reports on
progress towards the malaria target and on tracer maternal, child and
newborn indicators to enable them monitor the output of their countries and
take additional actions.
She expressed her pleasure to have taken over the leadership of ALMA from
Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete and to be handing it over to
Mozambican President Armando Guebuza with considerable progress made. "I
remain more committed than ever to working with the new chairperson of ALMA
and other Heads of State and Government to ensure that we meet our goal of
zero malaria deaths by 2015," President Sirleaf noted.
Also making remarks, the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon
acknowledged that AIDS, TB and Malaria have been on the continent for a long
time now, but have experienced decline in recent times. He said that the
United Nations will remain Africa's partner in the fight against killer
diseases including AIDS, TB and Malaria. "The fight against AIDS, Malaria
and TB," he stressed, "will be kept on the Post-2015 Agenda for the United
Nations as the implementation date of the current Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) draws closer," Mr. Ban said.
For her part, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Nkosazana
Dlamini Zuma thanked the head of AWA for the excellent leadership that has
led to progress and expressed the hope that AIDS, TB and Malaria can be
eliminated. She said the AU recognizes the health context of the continent
and will always support efforts aimed at controlling them.
Meanwhile, pleased with the leadership role of President Sirleaf on the
African continent, the Liberian leader has been chosen by the Authority of
Heads of State and Government of the African Union to chair a Committee of
Heads of State and Government on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
The committee will work towards an African common position to be embedded in
the final document of the United Nations High Level Panel of Eminent Persons
on the Post-2015 MDGs. The committee will comprise of two Heads of State
from each of the continent's five (5) regions and will be chaired by the
Liberian leader.
Received on Thu May 30 2013 - 10:39:16 EDT