Addis Ababa,Apr.22(ENA)--UNICEF on Thursday called on pharmaceutical firms and donor countries to get behind an initiative to introduce a life-saving new drug to hundreds of millions of people affected by malaria each year

According to a press release issued by UNICEF, the powerful new drug can save the lives of 300 million people afflicted by malaria every year.

UNICEF's Executive Director, Carol Bellamy in connection with the Africa Malaria Day to be marked on April 25 said,''If the private and public sectors work together effectively, we can quickly reshape the marketplace for malaria drugs and take a great leap toward rolling back malaria.''

Chloroquine, the least expensive and most widely used anti-malaria drug has lost its effectiveness in many parts of Africa, the press release said.

Recently a new more expensive treatment called artemisinin-containing combination therapy (ACT) has entered the market it said, adding ACTs are comparatively expensive and currently available only in limited quantities.

UNICEF and partners are working with global manufacturers to expand the production of high quality ACTs so that every child and community that needs these drugs can access them readily, it said.

Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease, is responsible for killing more than one million children every year - most of them under the age of five, according to the release.