Health – World Malaria Day (Apr. 25, 2023)

On this World Malaria Day, France reaffirms its determination to work together with all its international partners to defeat this disease by 2030.

Important progress has been made since 2002, with a 28% decrease in the incidence rate and a 47% drop in the mortality rate, but malaria continues to kill more than 600,000 people each year, most of them children. The African continent is most heavily hit, accounting for 95% of infections and 96% of deaths.

France calls on its partners to renew their efforts in the coming years in conjunction with the Global Fund, Unitaid, Gavi, research institutes, NGOs and communities, through actions ranging from the funding of research to better prevention, diagnosis and treatment for affected populations.

For our part, France will continue its longstanding involvement in the global fight against this disease:

• Since 2022, France has been the second-largest contributor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which provides 63% of the international aid aimed at combating malaria.
• It is the leading donor to Unitaid, which plays a key role in providing greater, more equitable access to innovative products to detect and treat malaria.
• It is an active contributor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which plays a crucial role in administering malaria vaccines in the most affected countries.

Syria – Adoption of new sanctions by the EU Council of Foreign Ministers (Apr. 24, 2023)

The European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council, which Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna attended yesterday, adopted new designations under the European sanctions regime against Syria established in 2011 in response to the violent crackdown against the Syrian people by the Syrian regime and its associates.

These new sanctions target 25 individuals and eight entities responsible for the trafficking of Captagon in Syria and elsewhere in the region. These individuals include members of pro-Iranian militias and those responsible for the violent repression of the Syrian people.

These latest sanctions, which were adopted in consultation with our American and British partners, particularly target the network involved in the production and export of Captagon, now one of the main revenue sources for the Syrian regime and a major threat to regional stability. They target those responsible for drug trafficking and repression in Syria, not the Syrian people.

Q&A

Hello, what are the latest figures for people evacuated from Sudan by the French authorities? Has the Lorraine navy frigate docked in Sudan? Thank you.

We refer you to today’s joint statement.