Political and economic underpinnings of the implementation of the African Roll Back Malaria declarations of April 2000

PURPOSE: The purpose of this presentation is to analyze the socio-politico-economic impact of Malaria on the African continent and to evaluate the extent to which African governments have fulfilled their commitment to the African Heads of State Roll Back Malaria Declarations of April 2000. EXPLANATION OF DATA: Data used in this study are: (a)the Roll Back Malaria Declaration of April 2000, signed by all African Heads of State in Abuja, Nigeria,in April 2000 (b) Policy documents relating to Roll Back Malaria from 53 African governments, (c) Interviews with selected African heads of state: Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo,Thabo Mbeki, Alpha Konare, Jerry Rawlings, etc.,who werre instrumental in calling for the summit, selected ministers of Health, representatives of WHO in Africa and the Directorate of the Roll Back Malaria Program in Geneva, the African Development Bank, the World Bank and other multilateral financial institutions, NGOs, CBOs, FBOs, supplemented by presenter's experiences as a Minister of Health who participated in the Roll Back Malaria Summit. MAJOR RESULTS: The economic cost of Malaria is huge but continental politics and economics and lack of commitment to the Roll Back Malaria policy initiatives have rendered the fight against the disease a losing one.