George Osborne and Bill Gates pledge to win the war on malaria

“A billion people are infected with malaria parasites and it kills a child every minute”.

“We both believe that a malaria-free world has to be one of the highest global health priorities”.

“On top of that, Bill and I are announcing today £3billion of funding aimed at eradicating malaria all together, helping support United Kingdom institutions like the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine”.

The Ross Fund was set up to invest in health research to fight malaria and other infectious diseases, and was named after Sir Ronald Ross, the scientist who proved that mosquitoes were responsible for the transmission of malaria.

Some £500m a year will be allocated from Britain’s global development budget while the Gates Foundation will spend £140m a year on research.

The £3bn total will be used to aim for the World Health Organisation’s goal of reducing malaria deaths by 90 percent by 2030.

According to Gates and Osborne, the money will be dispersed to researchers over a five-year period.

BILLIONAIRE PHILANTHROPIST Bill Gates will join forces with chancellor George Osborne in the fight against malaria by pledging billions of pounds to tackle the fatal disease.

In particular, the pair were there to raise awareness of the fight against malaria.

Although malaria mortality rate has decreased by 60% worldwide in the last 15 years, it is still prevalent in Africa, which alone account for 89% of malaria cases and 91% of deaths caused by the disease. “There is still a dramatic shortfall in the activities and consequent funding required to see an end to this disease and it is now crucial that we see other countries and donors following the United Kingdom and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation lead”. The fund works to develop and test a range of products including vaccines, drugs and diagnostics to help combat malaria.

The Ross Fund will target drug resistant infections including malaria and TB, outbreak diseases such as Ebola, and neglected tropical diseases.