By Rachel J. King
June 9, 2006
U.S. Dept. of State

A U.S. program to reduce malaria deaths by 50 percent in targeted African countries by 2010 will be expanded to include Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda and Senegal, first lady Laura Bush announced June 8 at a Washington event sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), announced in 2005, is a $1.2 billion, five-year collaboration of several government agencies, led by USAID in conjunction with the departments of State, Health and Human Services and others. The initiative attempts to take a comprehensive approach to preventing and treating malaria, including activities such as spraying insecticide in communities, using insecticide-treated bed nets and providing medication programs and treatment to pregnant women.

When announced by President Bush in June 2005, PMI targeted Angola, Tanzania and Uganda. As the first lady announced, four countries are being added for 2006 and the initiative will be expanded to another eight countries in 2007, ultimately aiding 15 nations.

“The partnership will also include education and evaluation programs to make sure that what we’re doing is effective and that it reaches the largest number of people,” the first lady said at the June 8 USAID event.

Although malaria has been eradicated in the United States, she said, “The challenge now is to make sure that this progress benefits people still at risk.”

Part of what making the fight against malaria so urgent, she said, is that the disease is “largely preventable.”

To eradicate malaria, the first lady said, more people must be “educated because life-saving nets, sprays and medicines work better when people know how to use them. Too few people know how malaria is transmitted. Every country has the obligation to educate its citizens.”

Malaria is especially devastating for children, pregnant women and people living with HIV/AIDS, she added.

According to a USAID fact sheet, approximately 1.2 million people die from the disease each year worldwide, but the greatest death toll is among children in Africa, where malaria kills a child every 30 seconds.

USAID predicts that an estimated 4 million people will benefit from PMI-supported activities by the end of September.

“For the first time, millions of people in malaria-devastated countries have hope,” Mrs. Bush said. “Throughout Africa, millions of mothers can now celebrate healthy children.”

The first lady added that U.S. aid must help African countries build anti-malaria programs that are sustainable. She attributed part of the malaria epidemic to the lack of doctors and nurses in Africa to meet the needs and said that as part of the USAID effort, for example, community health care workers are being trained in African cities and villages.

“With every new health care worker, a long-term, sustainable health care structure is being built,” she said, “one that can also cure diseases like avian flu, tuberculosis and malaria.”

PMI resources already are saving lives, the first lady said. In Angola, for example, where nearly 90 percent of the population is at risk of malaria, insecticide-spraying programs already provide coverage to more than 500,000 people.

The first lady also announced the new U.S. malaria coordinator, R. Timothy Ziemer, who will have direct authority over PMI and all USAID malaria programs and policy. Ziemer joined USAID after a 31-year career in the U.S. Navy where he achieved the rank of rear admiral. Previously, he served as the executive director of World Relief, a nonprofit group that works with local churches in the United States and around the world in the areas of disaster relief, refugee assistance, AIDS ministries and other services.