ExxonMobil gives $10m to renew commitment to combat malaria
ExxonMobil Grant Foundation has renewed its commitment to the fight against malaria with 10 million dollars bringing its total assistance to malaria to cover an 83 million people in Africa and the Pacific Rim.
The commitment is again to complement the much work remained to be done as global funding for malaria slowed, threatening to reverse the progress made against the disease.
A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency said, ExxonMobil’s funding has helped to distribute more than 13.1 million bed nets, 1.7 million top-line malaria treatments and 942,000 rapid diagnostic tests.
ExxonMobil has also supported the training of more than 250,000 health care workers to ensure these interventions were used effectively.
The new grant would support the lifesaving malaria programmes of leading global organisations, including Malaria No More, Africare, the United Nations Foundation, USAID, Jhpiego, Population Services International, UNICEF and the Medicines for Malaria Venture.
“Through our longstanding work in Africa, ExxonMobil has witnessed firsthand the devastating health and economic impacts of malaria,” said Suzanne McCarron, president of the ExxonMobil Foundation.
“We are building on our efforts over the past 13 years to support innovative programmes to stop the spread of this preventable disease and save lives,” the statement said.
As one of the leading private-sector investors in malaria, ExxonMobil has provided more than $110 million in grants and other support since 2000. Recognizing that no single approach is sufficient, ExxonMobil funded a range of interventions and efforts, including research, advocacy, treatment and prevention to ensure a comprehensive response.
Dr. Regina Rabinovich, ExxonMobil Malaria Scholar-in-Residence at Harvard University said, “The private sector provided resources, internal expertise and institutional knowledge that helped to amplify the impact of malaria programmes and ultimately saved lives.”
Organizations that ExxonMobil supported have been instrumental in the important advances made against malaria over the past decade.
“ExxonMobil is proud of the work of our grantees over the past decade, and remains committed to working with local and international partners to drive continued progress in the future”, it added
Source: GNA