British public want new PM to fight malaria and global disease
British public want new PM to fight malaria and global disease
New polling has revealed that three quarters of Brits (74%) want to see leadership from the UK’s next Prime Minister in fighting global diseases.
80% of those polled, from up and down the country and across political leanings, also believe it’s important that the UK continue to invest specifically in malaria prevention.
Those who responded to the poll recognised the benefits to UK health security and pandemic preparedness, as well as helping protect the world’s most vulnerable people.
Despite significant progress over recent decades, today a child dies every minute from malaria. With the Covid-19 pandemic bringing huge disruption to malaria services resulting in rising cases and deaths, there is urgent need for renewed investment. The UK has historically played a huge role in fighting malaria, through both scientific successes and investment.
- 74% want to see global leadership from the UK’s next Prime Minister in fighting global diseases
- 70% want to see the UK use its world-famous capabilities in science and medicine to support people in developing countries
- 80% of Britons think it’s important for the UK to continue to invest in preventing malaria
Ahead of the Seventh Replenishment of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria taking place in the US this September, Malaria No More UK is urging the next Prime Minister and their Foreign Secretary to step up their previous commitment to the Global Fund by 29%.
The Global Fund – of which the UK is a co-founder and has been a key donor – plays an integral role in making sure that life-saving innovations get to the right people in the right places at the right time. This year the Global Fund is aiming to raise a total of $18 billion to ensure that a further 20 million lives are saved by 2026.
A replenishment that meets this target would also see approximately $6 billion invested to reinforce global health systems, which are key to building pandemic preparedness and keeping everyone safer.
The decision of whether to meet this call will be made by the UK’s next Prime Minister and their Foreign Secretary in their first weeks in office, setting the tone for this new leadership and the UK’s position on the world stage. A strong commitment would help fulfil the government’s pledge to lead on eradicating malaria, set out in the 2019 Conservative manifesto.
For most of us in the UK the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked immense havoc on livelihoods and health. But whilst this devastation was a once-in-a-generation experience of harm on a mass scale, for so many people around the world, historic diseases like malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS continue to devastate everyday life and livelihoods with no immediate end in sight.
The British public has much to be proud of for our country’s part in helping to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, and now it is clear that the country wants the next Prime Minister to unleash this scientific potential to help defeat the world’s major killer diseases.
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