World leaders have pledged to commit nearly $US3 billion to a United Nations plan to drastically cut malaria deaths around the world.
The funding will include $US1.1 billion from the World Bank.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said the extra money would help "sharply reduce the numbers of malaria-related deaths and illness" in the next three years.
Malaria affects half of the world's population - 3.3 billion people in 109 countries - and causes nearly 1 million deaths per year, according to UN officials.
In addition to the World Bank commitment, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said it was committing $US1.62 billion over two years in new grants for malaria, including plans for distributing 100 million additional bed nets.
Billionaire Bill Gates said his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation would also provide $US168.7 million to fund research on a new generation of malaria vaccines.
Britain also pledged to supply 20 million of the 125 million bed nets needed to close the global bed net gap.
