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As the 2014 World Malaria Day campaign draws to a close, 15 Asian Pacific countries have declared a commitment to eradicating malaria from the region.

The countries are partners in the Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN), a group jointly managed by Õ¬Äе¼º½’s School of Population Health and the Global Health Group at the University of California, San Francisco.

APMEN co-ordinator Professor Maxine Whittaker said a declaration was signed by the network’s country partners to highlight their own malaria elimination goals and to agree on a target for the whole region.

“The ‘Manila Declaration’ was signed by national malaria program managers from 14 of the 15 APMEN country partners,” Professor Whittaker said.

“The Manila Declaration re-affirms the commitment of countries to the long-term goal of eliminating malaria in the Asia Pacific region.

“It also commits half the countries in the Asia Pacific region to achieve their elimination targets by 2025.”

Professor Whittaker said that from 2000 to 2012, APMEN Country Partners had reduced malaria cases by 60 per cent, sparing more than 900,000 people from contracting the disease.

“However, with an estimated 28 million new malaria cases and more than 45,000 confirmed deaths in the Asia Pacific in 2012 alone, a renewed commitment to eradicating the disease is more important than ever,” she said. 

APMEN is composed of 15 countries in the Asia Pacific region (Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Republic of Korea, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vanuatu and Vietnam) that currently share a common goal to eliminate malaria, either at the national or sub-national level.

APMEN works to strengthen malaria elimination efforts in the region through strategic regional and global linkages with Country Partner National Malaria Programs, academic and research institutions, funding bodies and stakeholders, as well as the World Health Organization (WHO).

APMEN is funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Media Contact: Arna Chancellor, Email: a.chancellor@uq.edu.au, 07 3365 5446, Website: . Kate Gadenne, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, 07 3346 3036, 0438 727 895, k.gadenne@uq.edu.au.