The Convention of the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by virtually every country on Earth, affirms that every child has a right to good health and nutrition. That right will not be fulfilled if malaria is not rolled back. Malaria kills a child somewhere in the world every 30 seconds, the majority of them in Africa.
Malaria is truly a disease of poverty.
It afflicts primarily the poor, who tend to live in malaria-prone areas, in dwellings that offer few, if any, barriers against mosquitoes. And by sapping peoples' health, strength and productivity, malaria generates still more poverty. There is also a growing consensus on the need to expand malaria prevention and treatment programmes beyond the health infrastructure and into communities and homes. An effective attack on malaria will require the active involvement of many different sectors of society. The Bamako Initiative, which has been endorsed by the OAU, has shown that even during times of severe economic difficulties, communities that have implemented Bamako Initiative programmes have been able to maintain basic essential health services for their people.