TWENTY one African countries have developed action plans to contain the scourge of malaria plaguing the continent, WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland said on Wednesday to mark the first-ever Africa Malaria Day. Malaria kills at least one million people a year and it is a major barrier to development in the continent, Brundtland told a news conference. African leaders for the first time met a year ago in Abuja and agreed on a four-point plan of action to contain the disease. These include making sure that every family has access to insecticide-treated nets, adequate and prompt treatment to all malaria-infected people and ensuring that all pregnant women have access to prevention and setting up efforts to predict and control epidemics. – AFP