Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-12-Speech-2-074"
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"en.20050412.8.2-074"2
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".
In view of a death toll of 2 million people annually, 3 000 children daily and Africa being a hotbed of it, the need to fight malaria is self-evident. It is, of course, a crying shame to realise that we have both the expertise and the means, yet nevertheless this situation persists. The medication is available and the illness is curable. Simple, impregnated bed nets are the most effective and cheapest way of preventing infection, but the reality is that only 2% of children in Africa sleep under them. That is mainly attributable to organisational blockages and bottlenecks in their distribution. Geoffrey Sachs has brought us back to face the facts. The means are there; we are now waiting for the political will. He mentions quick wins, but I can see only structural benefits if these are underpinned by real campaigns and if we set clear priorities. We have proved to the world once before that we are up to this, having managed, for example, to eradicate nearly 99% of the incidence of polio.
What matters now is not to get various poverty-related illnesses competing against each other, but to tackle the root of basic health provisions in Africa together. Naturally, as the Commissioner already said, priority should be given to the most vulnerable areas that lack basic provisions or regional structures, and where hygiene is poor. Moreover, we should not forget that 50% of Africa’s population lives in urban areas, so the problem is not only a rural one; it is also very much present in the cities, which require yet another form of organisation. It is always local organisers, those basic health provisions, and the bottlenecks in the systems that lead to problems, and I hope that, with his strategy, the Commissioner will be able to make some changes in those areas. People on the ground will be keen to lend a hand, for it is they, of course, whose parents have children who will die of malaria. They know how serious this is and will certainly want to give their full cooperation."@en1
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