Malaria Booster Program for Africa : Gaining Ground against a Major Challenge to Health and Development

Malaria is a treatable and preventable disease yet it remains a major challenge to achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Africa. It is not only a serious health problem, but an issue that cripples development. Every year, malaria infects more than 500 million people around the world and is one of the leading causes of child deaths on in Africa, with 3,000 children dying from it every day. It is estimated that malaria costs Africa $12 billion a year in direct costs and lost productivity. The key features of the Booster Program are the following: (i) support for country-led operations to reduce illnesses and avoidable deaths from malaria while improving the capacity for service delivery; (ii) emphasis on both effective scale-up of critical disease control interventions and the strengthening of health systems; (iii) partnerships to broker global agreements and support country led programs; (iv) monitoring results against monies spent; and v) knowledge generation and innovations to finance global public goods for malaria control. Due in part to the efforts of the Booster Program, countries and regions are closing gaps in their health systems and employing springboard for the ultimate goal of eradicating malaria.