The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams called on governments on Wednesday to continue funding anti-malaria programs, saying progress in battling the preventable disease is fragile.

Local churches are among the groups which have sought to eliminate the disease, the noted.

"On this World Malaria Day I urge governments to continue to invest in malaria programs to prevent the unnecessary death of millions of vulnerable people. We have already come so far, let's not lose momentum now," the Archbishop said.

He noted that malaria death rates in Africa fell by one-third "in the last few years," with Morocco eliminating the disease.

However he also noted a gap in global funding "threatens to undo many of the hard won gains and risks allowing malaria to regain a hold on communities who are close to elimination."