Press release: Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance

26 April 2018

Leading Asia Pacific corporations launch consumer-powered movement to end malaria on World Malaria Day

A number of Asia’s leading companies and foundations have launched M2030 – focusing the power of millions of consumers on beating the world’s deadliest disease.

London, 25 April 2018. A new collaboration has been unveiled today on World Malaria Day[1] that will raise awareness and boost financial support to Asia Pacific countries, helping them bring an end to malaria by 2030.

The M2030 initiative brings together international health organizations, corporations and consumers so that a small part of everyday purchases or actions can make a real contribution to tackling the disease.

Corporations that join the initiative, will gain the right to use the M2030 trademark. In exchange, they will run corporate campaigns to raise awareness and funds, or contribute a portion of the profit of M2030-branded products and services to malaria programmes.

All resources mobilised by M2030 partners will be channelled to The Global Fund[2] to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, where they will be used to support malaria programmes in the very countries where they are raised.

The launch of the M2030 partnership by leading Asian corporations, The Global Fund and the Asia Pacific Leaders’ Malaria Alliance (APLMA) was warmly welcomed by a recent meeting of heads of governments, business leaders, philanthropists and researchers in London on April 18.
World leaders and global experts gathered at the recent London Malaria Summit expressed a clear sense of urgency for more action, but also hope for future progress. Urgency, because malaria is still one of the deadliest diseases for people around the world, killing a child every two minutes; but also hope, because it is clearer than ever that malaria can be eliminated in our lifetime.

With malaria cases and deaths having halved over the past 15 years, continued progress is now at risk. Bill Gates and Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop – in the presence of 15 Prime Ministers and the UK’s Prince Charles and Prince Andrew – warned that drug-resistant forms of malaria are taking hold in Southeast Asia. Not only is this a serious threat in the region, but its spread to Africa would see millions of additional deaths, mostly in children under the age of five. The only way to stop drug resistance in its tracks, the experts argue, is to eliminate malaria from the region altogether.

“We are happy to be coming onboard as one of M2030’s pioneer brand partners in support of their mission to eliminate malaria in the Asia Pacific region by 2030,” said Chris Feng, CEO of Shopee, the leading online shopping platform in Southeast Asia. “As a company committed to using technology to improve the lives of consumers across the region, we are determined to play our part to help drive awareness and raise funds to support the elimination of malaria. We hope that all Shopee users can join us in supporting this cause.”

“The private sector can bring money, but even more importantly it brings a focus on getting things done, it brings an ability to innovate, and also voices and engagement – a way of adding to the advocacy – all of which are remarkably powerful,” added Peter Sands, the Executive Director of The Global Fund. “This new platform to raise funds, to engage corporates to end malaria, is an incredibly exciting initiative.”

A unique cast of companies is behind M2030, including the Tahir Foundation from Indonesia; the DT Families Foundation from Thailand; Shopee; the Dentsu Aegis Network; and Yoma Strategic Holdings from Myanmar. Together, they will reach more than 46 million people over the next three years to mobilise millions of dollars for programmes that will help bring an end to malaria.

M2030 plans to bring additional corporations on board in the coming months to join this unique platform that brings people and corporations together in a meaningful collaboration to end malaria.

“The Tahir Foundation is a long-standing partner of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Fund,” said Jonathan Tahir, Co-Chair, Tahir Foundation. “We are excited about using our resources to support M2030 in its mission to end malaria in Indonesia and throughout the Asia Pacific.”

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Media enquiries:

APLMA: Patrik Silborn: psilborn@aplma.org │ +65 (0) 8411 3061

Tim France: tfrance@aplma.org │ +44 (0) 773939 0542

M2030 corporate partners:

Gerard Teoh: gerardteoh@cravecapital.com │ +60 (0) 19 328 4577

About APLMA

APLMA is an affiliation of Asia and Pacific heads of government, formed to accelerate progress against malaria and to eliminate it in the region by 2030. APLMA was created by the East Asian Summit (EAS) leaders in 2013 to further strengthen anti-malaria efforts, both to help protect hard-won national gains and, ultimately, to defeat malaria in the region altogether.

To guide this work, the Asia Pacific Leaders’ Elimination Roadmap sets out the strategic priorities for achieving the 2030 goal.

About M2030

M2030 is a collaborative APLMA initiative, which includes the following current partners:

Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan;
DT Families Foundation, a private charitable foundation with a vision to promote a healthy society and sustainable world where all are actively engaged with full potential and compassion towards others.
Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd, listed on the Main Board of the Singapore Securities Exchange Trading Limited (SGX-ST), is a leading business corporation with real estate, agriculture, automotive and luxury tourism businesses in Myanmar.
Dentsu Aegis Network, a global media group that specialises in media, digital and creative communications services that innovate the way brands are built.
Tahir Foundation, a privately-funded organisation founded by Dato’ Sri Prof. Dr. Tahir, Chairman of Mayapada Group.
The Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, a partnership that mobilises and invests nearly US$4 billion a year to support programmes run by local experts in countries and communities most in need.

[1] The World Health Organisation’s information on World Malaria Day 2018 is available here: http://www.who.int/malaria/media/world-malaria-day-2018/en/

[2] More information on The Global Fund is available here: https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/

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The Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance will be one of the key speakers at the forthcoming AIDF Asia Summit, discussing how to raise awareness and financing to eliminate Malaria in Asia.

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