Fighting killer diseases

Everyone wants to live a long and healthy life. But if you live in a poor country your chances of living a full span are vastly lower than in the West.

• Every 30 seconds an African child dies of malaria.
• In countries with high rates of HIV, a baby born today is unlikely to live beyond 40.

Poor people’s health is a top priority. Healthy people can look after their children, hold down jobs, and help their country to grow.

World leaders have pledged to halt the spread of killer diseases by 2015. DFID is committed to this.

Over 3 billion people are at risk from malaria – particularly children under five and pregnant women. More than 1 million people die from malaria every year. Using long lasting insecticide-treated bed nets saves lives. We’re backing schemes to provide families with free or low cost bed nets and are making it easier for people to get prompt, effective treatment.

Almost a third of the world’s population is infected with TB. Every year it kills about 2 million people. We support research into new drugs to treat TB, and into making treatment available to more and more people.

The healthier people are, the less likely they are to be poor.

• Find out about the new international health partnership to improve health in poor countries.
• We are one of the key backers of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.