Backsliding in Malaria Funding Can Reverse Progress and Increase Lives Lost

NEW YORK, April 22, 2010 - "To realize the real impact of investments in our fight against malaria,
we must not only maintain current funding levels but actually increase them.
If we don't, then the achievements we have made in providing malaria
protection will be short lived," said Sunil Mehra, Executive Director of the
UK-based Malaria Consortium.

(Photo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100422/NY91744)

Mr. Mehra was co-hosting a reception held at the United Nations last
night with the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership to mark World Malaria Day
on April 25 and highlight the state of global malaria. The event featured
leaders in the world of public policy and malaria control including UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium and Prof. Awa
Coll-Seck, Executive Director of RBM among others.

Malaria is a preventable and curable disease. Yet nearly 850,000 people
each year, mainly pregnant women and children, die from it, and half of the
world's population, some 3.3 billion people in 109 countries, are at risk of
contracting the disease. It's also widely recognized that malaria control has
a positive impact on all of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), with its biggest effect on reducing child mortality, improving
maternal health and combating other diseases.

Fuelled by milestones set by the MDGs in 2000, there has been strong
international funding and support for malaria prevention programs throughout
2009. A recent report authored by the World Health Organization (WHO)
confirmed that this effort has yielded significant successes. An estimated
384,000 children's lives were saved in 12 countries through widespread
distribution of mosquito nets, regarded as the best front line defense
against malaria, and other malaria prevention tools since 2000. But WHO
warned that we need to triple the US$2 billion allocated for malaria at the
end of 2009, to about US$6 billion required annually to ensure universal
coverage of malaria control interventions.

History shows that malaria control efforts must be sustained to be
effective. Sri Lanka is an example of a country where malaria roared back
after nearly being eliminated in 1963. But those eradication efforts were not
sustained and by 1990 there were a quarter of a million cases. Fortunately
malaria control was stepped up again and levels have dropped once more to
just 673 cases reported in 2008.

"This is just one of many examples where diminished intensity in malaria
control efforts can lead to disastrous results in terms of human suffering
and the loss of lives," said Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, CEO of the Group,
Vestergaard Frandsen, which is the leading producer of mosquito nets. "We've
made such important progress toward controlling the spread of malaria these
past few years. We can't afford to let funding backslide and threaten this
progress," Mr. Vestergaard Frandsen added.

Some 250 guests attended the reception, which included a special viewing
of the highly successful photographic exhibition Malaria: blood, sweat, and
tears by award-winning photographer Adam Nadel. The exhibition showcases the
complex relationships between malaria, poverty and the need for international
support for combating the disease on a grand scale. The exhibition will be on
display, free to the public, at the United Nations Main Gallery (entered
through the Visitors Lobby, First Avenue at 46th Street) through April 26.

The exhibition was produced and conceived by the United Kingdom-based
Malaria Consortium, the world's leading non-profit organization dedicated to
comprehensive control of malaria, and photographer Adam Nadel. It was made
possible with the generous support of Vestergaard Frandsen, a European-based
company specializing in complex emergency response and disease-control
products, including the PermaNet(R) long-lasting insecticidal net and net
curtains to prevent vector-borne diseases like malaria. It was produced under
the umbrella of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership which is the global
framework for coordinated action against malaria.

For more information about Malaria Consortium visit
www.malariaconsortium.org, about Roll Back Malaria Partnership visit
www.rollbackmalaria.org, and about Vestergaard Frandsen, visit
www.vestergaard-frandsen.com.

    Contact:
    --------
    Diana Thomas, Malaria Consortium, d.thomas@malariaconsortium.org
    Peter Cleary, Vestergaard Frandsen, +1-347-653-5857, pc@permanet.com

Note to Editors:

A picture accompanying this release is available through the PA
Photowire. It can be downloaded from www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or
viewed at www.mediapoint.press.net or www.prnewswire.co.uk.

A picture accompanying this release is available from the European
Pressphoto Agency (EPA) at www.epa-photos.com.

Diana Thomas, Malaria Consortium, d.thomas at malariaconsortium.org; Peter Cleary, Vestergaard Frandsen, +1-347-653-5857, pc at permanet.com