What is DFID doing about malaria?
DFID is providing £48 million to the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership for the period 1999 to 2004 and has pledged £140 million for the period 2005–08 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. DFID’s research department has committed £10 million for malaria research, including £5 million for Medicines for Malaria Venture and £2.86 million to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine malaria programme. £2.86 million of this is being spent on investigating insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and their dissemination; another £2.65 million is being spent on research into the diagnosis of malaria. We also support the work of social marketing groups in distributing ITNs. ITNs are known to reduce malaria disease burden and death in households and is a key weapon in the fight against malaria. They are cheap, safe, easy to use and if used properly can last a long time, with the potential to decrease infant mortality rates by 20 per cent. They have been a real success in countries
