ExxonMobil is committing $5.7 million to support local and global organisations working to eliminate malaria around the world.
This year’s grants, announced in conjunction with World Malaria Day, will continue the company’s nearly 20-year effort to reduce the global burden of malaria, a disease that still causes an estimated 435,000 deaths yearly.
According to a statement issued by the Manager, Media and Communications, ExxonMobil Nigeria, OgeUdeagha, ExxonMobil’s malaria initiative has worked to advance progress against malaria though partnerships focused on developing the next generation of global health leaders and building health system capacity by supporting education and improving access to tools for malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
“We focus our attention on local and global organisations that deliver health services and supplies directly to affected communities,” said Kevin Murphy, president, ExxonMobil Foundation.
“While great progress continues to be made in saving lives from malaria around the world, important work remains to prevent the disease’s resurgence.”
ExxonMobil works with partners in Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Nigeria and Papua New Guinea to identify and promote solutions to fight the disease.
Activities and public events planned in those countries to commemorate World Malaria Day include voluntary testing and counselling sessions, mosquito net distribution, community events and public awareness campaigns.
This year’s grant recipients include ADPP Angola, Africare, Baylor College of Medicine, Corporate Alliance on Malaria in Africa (CAMA), Friends of the Global Fight, Grassroot Soccer, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Jhpiego, Malaria No More, PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, Seed Global Health, Special Olympics, TchovaTchova, ExxonMobil Global Health Scholars at the University of Oxford and Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN).
Since 2000, ExxonMobil has invested a total of $170 million, supporting the delivery of 15 million bed nets to prevent mosquito bites, the administration of five million anti-malarial treatments and the distribution of 3.9 million rapid diagnostic kits. The company has also supported the training of 700,000 health workers.
