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South African Broadcasting Corporation Copyright ©
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April 24, 2007, 21:00
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has allocated $50 million to help 10 African and Asian countries fight malaria, a disease which kills up to three million people a year, the bank said today.
The funds, a contribution to emergency anti-malaria programme in malaria-infested IDB member countries, aims to ensure better distribution and higher production of serums, vaccine and drugs used against malaria. They are Burkina Faso, Chad, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Indonesia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Sudan, IDB said in a statement.
The money will also help fund surveys and research and disseminate successful experiments to help the recipient countries in their fight against malaria and diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV/Aids. European Union and Group of Eight president Germany urged rich countries today to do more to fight malaria in Africa and announced the formation of a European umbrella group to draw attention to the problem.
Malaria, caused by a parasite carried by mosquitoes, kills up to three million people every year and makes a further 300 million seriously ill. Ninety percent of deaths are in sub-Saharan African and most of them are young children. - Reuters
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