The US government is expanding its anti-malaria support to The Gambia in its fights against the disease in the country. 

The partnership which is announced today to mark World Malaria Day forms part of the US President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) to 

eliminate malaria around the world.

This announcement, which also included Burundi and Togo, will increase the number of PMI partner countries to 30, with 27 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and three in Southeast Asia. 

The Gambia is one of six countries in the Africa Region that have achieved the 2020 milestones of reducing malaria cases and deaths by 40 percent since 2015, according to a press release from the US Embassy in Banjul. 

An initial investment of $4 million is expected from PMI to kick-start the process in support of The Gambia’s National Malaria Strategy.

 The funds will be used to implement activities such as mosquito net distribution, insecticide application, treatment for pregnant women, and medicine distribution.

“The Government of The Gambia and its partnering organizations have significantly reduced malaria transmission. However, there is more work to be done. Malaria remains a health and financial burden for many Gambian households. By providing PMI resources, the U.S. Government aims to assist The Gambia to eliminate this debilitating and deadly disease,” said Sharon L. Cromer, U.S. Ambassador to The Gambia.

The expansion will also enable PMI to leverage existing U.S. government investments for maximum impact, including those in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. 

Of the 247 million infections and 619,000 deaths from malaria globally in 2021, most were in Africa, and almost 80 percent of deaths were children under five.