Roll Back Malaria Progress & Impact

Investing in malaria control pays off

Involvement in the fight against malaria helped build these companies' reputations for social responsibility and good corporate citizenship. It also had a significant leveragig effect. These companies used their diverse competencies and infrastructure to attract partners and resources, securing funding from external donors and jumpstarting scale-up interventions that otherwise would not have taken place.

Strong models now exist for the involvement of the private sector in malaria control:

•Three companies in Zambia 3 Mopani Copper Mines, Konkola Copper Mines, and Zambia Sugar—have made dramatic progress in a ten-year period. The number of malaria cases in company clinics dropped 94%, from 27 925 per year to 1631 and the number of malaria-related lost work days also dropped 94%, from 19 392 per year to 1133 (see Figure 1).
•In 2004, in the Ghanaian community of Obuasi, gold producer AngloGold Ashanti was seeing as many as 6800 malaria patients per month at the company's hospital, out of a total workforce of 8000 people. AngloGold partnered with Ghana's National Malaria Control Programme, among others, to implement indoor residual spraying, distribution of bednets, and rapid diagnosis and treatment. By 2009, only 1100 patients were visiting the hospital each month and monthly malaria medication costs at the company had fallen from US$ 550 000 to US$ 9800.
•In Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, Marathon Oil partnered with business partners and the Guinean Government to develop a five-year US$ 15.8 million initiative that increased the percentage of young children protected by bednets or indoor spraying of insecticides from 4% to 95% and reduced malaria parasite prevalence in children by 57% in just four years. The project, which won several high-profile awards for social responsibility and good citizenship, was extended through 2013 to develop local capacity and enable the programme to reach the mainland.
•During the first two years aluminum smelter BHP Billiton was operating in Mozambique, the company reported 6000 malaria cases, 300 medical evacuations, 13 fatalities, and incurred US$ 2.7 million in malaria costs while it was being built. The company partnered with the Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative to help reduce malaria infections from 625 cases per 1000 population to fewer than 200 cases per 1000 in the Maputo Province of Mozambique. In addition to savings from absenteeism and health care costs averted, the initiative's success helped secure two grants totalling US$ 47 million from the Global Fund for regional control of malaria.
Malaria control is a cost-effective business investment that offers a rapid rate of return. Both small and large businesses have proven to be critical contributors in the fight against the malaria, whether they work independently or partner with national governments. Supporting malaria control is a contribution that the private sector can and should make; strengthening their businesses while savings lives.