CRI听力:UN Chief Calls for More Investment to Prevent Malaria

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the international community for more investment in tested approaches to prevent Malaria.

Ban says that despite the improvement in prevention tools, there is still need to invest in getting wider access to tools and treatments for people to reduce infection and death from Malaria.

He calls for more investment in tried and tested approaches to malaria prevention and treatment, strengthening health systems in the world's poorest countries and development in new tools and approaches.

Ban made the appeal on the occasion to mark the World Malaria Day which fell on Saturday.

To address the disease, the national distribution of mosquito nets has started in C?te d'Ivoire, which is among the countries hardest-hit by malaria in the world.

Louis Vigneault-Dubois, spokesperson for UNICEF in C?te d'Ivoire, says the country is trying to catch up in its fight against Malaria.

"I think that the post-electoral crisis slowed down all development of public health. But I think that with this universal cover the mosquito nets we have made a step forward and we now have the means to protect the population because we know that malaria remains the illness that kills the most children in Ivory Coast."

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes.