Malaria and the MDGs
Faiths Act inspires and mobilises people of faith to take action together towards the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), with a specific focus on ending deaths from malaria.
The Millenium Development Goals
The MDGs are the eight international development targets that all 192 United Nations member states agreed to achieve by 2015:
- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
- Achieve universal primary education.
- Promote gender equality and empower women.
- Reduce child mortality.
- Improve maternal health.
- Combat HIV/AIDs, malaria and other diseases.
- Ensure environmental sustainability.
- A global partnership for development.
The global community made a promise, through the MDGs, to the world’s poor but we are in real danger of breaking it. The Tony Blair Faith Foundation identified the fight against malaria as an immediate priority and one on which faith communities can have real impact. Malaria is the signature campaign of Faiths Act.
Eliminating deaths from malaria
Malaria is a communicable disease borne by mosquitoes. It affects half the world’s population and is concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, with parts of India and Latin America heavily affected too.
Malaria kills a child every 60 seconds and children under 5 and pregnant women are amongst the most vulnerable. The prevalence of malaria costs the African continent approximately $12 billion a year. But it is entirely treatable and preventable.
Already the business and pharmaceutical sector, NGOs and the charitable sector are united in their response to the UN Secretary General’s call to eliminate deaths from malaria by 2015.
We are harnessing the power and strength of faith communities to join this front and help achieve this target. The values of compassion and social justice that the great religions share have never been more relevant in confronting this challenge. Together we are working towards a malaria-free world.
Find out more about our malaria prevention work with faith communities in Sierra Leone.
