An agreement announced on the eve of the Global Fund’s conference will facilitate the supply of 35 million mosquito nets to combat malaria, and help protect the health of millions of people in countries across sub-Saharan Africa, including Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali.
The agreement has been made between MedAccess – established by CDC to increase patient access to life-changing medical supplies in Africa and South Asia – BASF, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Every year, malaria kills around 435,000 people and there are an estimated 219 million cases. Nowhere is the problem more severe than in Africa with more than 90 per cent of deaths worldwide. Beyond loss of life, malaria disrupts education, industries and national economies. It is a major cause of global poverty.
In recent years, the fight against malaria has made significant progress. However, after many years of declining incidence rates, the highly adaptable mosquito has developed resistance to the insecticides commonly used in malaria prevention, causing the number of cases to rise again.
This four-year agreement accelerates access to this innovative new mosquito-control technology in countries where progress is stalling due to insecticide resistance. MedAccess’ ‘volume guarantee’, which underwrites the risk of supplying the nets in uncertain markets, enables BASF to better plan long-term resources and reduce the cost of the new nets by an average of 40 per cent over four years. This will make the nets more accessible and affordable for countries where insecticide resistance is growing, and conventional nets are becoming less effective.
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