PharmaBoardroom - Sarthak Das, CEO, Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance

Preventable infectious diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria account for one third of all under-five deaths. Globally, nearly half of all deaths among children under five are attributable to malnutrition (Caulfield 2004). In Asia Pacific, 351 million people are still undernourished, and the COVID-19 pandemic will only exacerbate this figure. UNICEF estimates an additional 6-7 million children under 5 globally will suffer from acute malnutrition as a result (UNICEF 2020).

The Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA) and Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN) are delighted the World Health Organization has endorsed the use of the world’s first malaria vaccine, RTS,S/AS01, providing crucial protection against malaria in young children in sub-Saharan Africa.

APLMA is an affiliation of Asian and Pacific heads of government formed to accelerate progress against malaria and to eliminate it in the region by 2030.