International malaria campaign launched

A photographic exhibition in Paris, France, on the subject of malaria and its impact in regions most affected by the disease was the venue for the launch of an international campaign to ensure access to malaria drugs for low-income sufferers. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who holds the rotating European Union presidency for the current six-month term, hosted the event and the public introduction of the new venture, titled, To Decide is to Win: Together Let's Make Malaria a Disease of the Past.

Michele Barzach, the director of the Friends of the Global Fund Europe, said that France would call on the international community "to mobilize" against malaria and meet the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals. Other partners in the campaign, according to a report by the Panapresse/Afriquenligne news agency, are the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the European Alliance Against Malaria and the Roll Back Malaria Partnership.