The World Bank will provide Zambia with 20 million US dollars over the next three to four years to help the southern African country scale up its malaria control program.

Ohene Nyanin, the bank's representative in Zambia, announced this Friday at a consultation meeting on the country's National Malaria Strategic Plan for 2006-2011.

"Zambia will be the first African country to benefit from the new malaria booster program... Preparations for the Zambia malaria booster project are well underway," he said.

Nyanin said the World Bank has adopted a new global strategy for boosting malaria control, which is being implemented in Africa through malaria booster projects.

Malaria is the leading cause of sickness and death in Zambia as well as other parts of Africa. It is estimated that malaria is killing 3,000 people every day in Africa, and cost the continent an annual cost of 12 billion dollars in GDP.

The global Roll Back Malaria campaign launched in 1998 by the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Development Fund and the World Bank has set the goal of reducing the burden due to malaria by 50 percent compared to the baseline of the year 2000.

Victor Mukonka, director of Public Health and Research at the Ministry of Health, said the National Malaria Strategic Plan for 2006-2011 aims to provide 80 percent of its target population with prevention measures and effective treatment by 2008.

These include providing insecticide-treated bed nets to children and pregnant women, spraying houses with insecticide, timely diagnosis for suspected patients, and prompt and effective treatment of patients within 24 hours.

Zambian Health Minister Sylvia Masebo said the strategic plan should focus on scaling up a package of core interventions that will increase coverage and enhance preventive and curative measures.

Concerted efforts for malaria control will help Zambia attain the Millennium Development Goals, she said.

Source: Xinhua