Australia to spend $104 million over 4 years on fighting malaria in Asia-Pacific region
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Australia will spend more than 100 million Australian dollars ($104 million) over the next four years to help reduce deaths from malaria in the Asia-Pacific region.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced at a malaria conference in Sydney on Friday the money would support several country and regional programs. They include a program that aims to control drug-resistant malaria along the lower Mekong River and anti-malaria efforts in Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.
The World Health Organization says the region had more than 30 million malaria cases and around 42,000 deaths in 2010.
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Most malaria deaths occur in Africa, but 64 percent of the Asia-Pacific population is exposed to the mosquito-borne illness.