At the 2018 World Economic Forum on ASEAN in Vietnam's capital recently, the Asia-Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance announced support for a new initiative to accelerate the elimination of malaria in the Asia-Pacific region.
M2030,a platform established on World Malaria Day 2018, aims to bring together some of the most influential businesses in Asia to raise funds, engage consumers as agents of change and sustain political support for malaria elimination by 2030.
According to the World Health Organization, in 2016, there were 216 million cases of malaria globally, up 5 million cases over 2015. Meanwhile, deaths reached 445,000, a similar number to the previous year, reports Xinhua from Hanoi.
In 2016, some 2.7 billion US dollars was invested in malaria control and elimination efforts globally by governments of malaria endemic countries and international partners, far from what was required to combat the disease more effectively.