The United Nations has reported that 1 progress is being made in the fight 2 malaria in Africa. The UNICEF website says the area that is 3 the most dramatic improvement is sub- Saharan Africa. This is the region hardest hit by the 4 One of the biggest reasons for these gains against the killer infection is the increased use of special insect nets. This 5 solution can reduce child deaths by as much as 20 percent. The 6 says the number of children using the insecticide- treated 7 has tripled since 2000. According to UNICEF’s Executive Director Ann Veneman, controlling malaria is vital 8 improving child health and economic 9 in affected countries. Studies show that malaria unfairly affects the poorest people in these countries, and contributes to their poorer 10 conditions.
UNICEF prepared the 11 together with the Roll Back Malaria Partnership. This organisation is a collaboration of aid agencies launched in 1998 to 12 fight malaria. Its vision is that 13 2015, malaria "is no longer a major 14 of mortality and no longer a barrier 15 social and economic development". The report 16 provides a healthy picture of the use of drugs in 17 the number of malaria cases. Since 2003, national health programmes have 18 heavily in buying anti-malarial drugs called ACTs. UNICEF’s health chief Pater Salama is 19 and says the future looks bright. He reports: "With the strong backing of some of the international donors and the 20 of ACTs starting to be reduced, I think governments are becoming more confident now that this will be a sustainable strategy for anti-malaria treatment."