United Nations Radio

World leaders have endorsed an ambitious new Global Malaria Action Plan and committed nearly $3 billion toward reducing the number of malaria deaths to near zero by 2015.

Meeting at the United Nations at the 2008 Millennium Development Goals Malaria Summit, the leaders hailed recent progress against malaria and stressed that far greater gains can be achieved in the coming years.

The funding commitments will support rapid implementation of the Global Malaria Action Plan - an unprecedented new strategy launched Thursday by the Roll Back Malaria Partnership.

Executive Director of the Partnership, Professor Awa Marie Coll-Seck, says the Action Plan is a milestone in the international response to malaria.

"This strategy is really an action plan to ensure that we have all the elements for the world and for the global community to control malaria, eliminate it and why not[one]day eradicate it. It is also a plan based on consensus of all the partners and it is the first time we have it, but also a plan building on all the experience we have at a country level and particular success stories."

The Global Malaria Action Plan lays out a detailed course of action to dramatically reduce malaria.

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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