§ Tim Loughton:To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) children and (b) pregnant mothers died of malaria in developing countries in each of the last five years, using figures from his Department's research. [141193]
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Mr. Gareth Thomas:Children and pregnant women are at the greatest risk of dying from malaria. The WHO'S most recent official estimates of children under-5 dying of malaria for year 2000 are close to 1 million deaths globally. There are no official WHO estimates of malaria related mortality for pregnant women. WHO and Roll Back Malaria (RBM) recognise the importance of having more accurate estimates, which are important to measure progress and ensure that global targets are met.
DFID has contributed £48 million over four years (1999 to 2003) to RBM, a global partnership which includes national governments, UN agencies, pharmaceutical companies and NGOs, with the objective of working to half the world's malaria burden by 2010. This will be done through expanding coverage for preventative interventions (e.g. insecticide-treated mosquito nets), expanding effective treatment for the disease and strengthening national capacity for surveillance, monitoring and planning.