Fiona has shown her support for the “Malaria Must Die so that millions can live” campaign and is calling on Commonwealth leaders to do more to help combat this disease.
The campaign Malaria Must Die was started by the charity Malaria No More UK which Fiona has supported for a number of years and is calling for all the Commonwealth leaders, who will meet in the next month at the annual summit in London, to commit to taking action.
Each year 500,000 people die from malaria. The number of people dying each year is down by 60% since 2000 which has lead to 7 million lives being saved. However, much more needs to be done – a child dies every 2 minutes from malaria. Ending malaria will not only save millions of lives but it will also play an integral part in tackling poverty. Every $1 spent on malaria creates a benefit of $36 thanks to children being able to attend school and adults being at work.
Fiona said:
“90% of the citizens of the Commonwealth live in countries with malaria. The Malaria Must Die campaign is calling on the leaders of every Commonwealth country to take action and build on previous successes in the fight to end malaria. Too many are still dying from this terrible disease and more must be done, both to save lives and continue the fight against poverty.”