Leading Asia Pacific corporations launch consumer-powered movement to eliminate malaria

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.

A new collaboration has been unveiled 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 mobilized by M2030 partners will be channelled to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB 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 summit of heads of governments, business leaders, philanthropists and researchers held in London.

“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.”

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.

“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.”

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.

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 mobilize millions of dollars for programmes that will help bring an end to 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] Asia Pacific.”

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.