Africa Malaria Day

Thank you, Connie, for your kind introduction. I want to extend my appreciation to the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Agency for International Development for helping to arrange today’s program.

It should be well known by now that health is a major issue on the foreign policy agenda of the Bush Administration. As SARS has shown us, health issues know no boundaries and the social and economic impacts of infectious diseases are truly international.

Much attention over the years has been focused on HIV/AIDS, and properly so. When President Bush unveiled his historic Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in his State of the Union speech in January, he demonstrated the seriousness and commitment of the United States to fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic. But malaria is no less insidious a threat to the health of millions of men, women, and children around the world, especially in Africa.

The statistics, quite simply, are shocking. There are an astounding 500 million new malaria infections every year, resulting in more than 1 million deaths annually. African children -- the very ones upon which that continent’s future rests -- are bearing the brunt of this disease’s cruel burden. And women, already challenged by the devastating increase of HIV/AIDS, are especially vulnerable to malaria during their pregnancies.

Three years ago, at the Africa Summit on Roll Back Malaria in Abuja, Nigeria, African leaders pledged to cut malaria morbidity in half by 2010. The United States wholeheartedly supports this goal, though, of course, we hope to reach this target much sooner than 2010.

The reality, however, is that we face a serious challenge. As the 2003 Africa Malaria Report revealed, malaria morbidity continues to worsen in Africa, and drug resistant strains of malaria are increasing. We face an uphill struggle, but a struggle that we nevertheless can -- indeed must -- overcome.

Scott and others have already illustrated the impact malaria is having. Let me touch on what I see are some of the keys to getting ahead of this disease.

Partnerships lie at the core of the Bush Administration’s foreign policy, and they are no less essential in the fight against infectious diseases, including malaria. The United States successfully emphasized the importance of public-private partnerships at last year’s World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Such partnerships enable us to identify new opportunities for action, with new actors, and to coordinate and pool resources and expertise to ensure our approach is truly comprehensive. The Roll Back Malaria partnership is one example of the new way of working. The Medicines for Malaria initiative, which works with the private sector to find new treatments, is another.

We all have vital roles to play in the fight against malaria, roles that can be augmented and made more effective through partnerships. National governments have a critical leadership role to play. UN agencies, development banks, NGOs, faith- and community-based organizations, political figures, and many others have unique resources to bring to bear in the fight against malaria.

Some of these resources are financial, some may be technical, and others are consequences of position. For example, the U.S.-Kenyan research partnership that led to the special supplement to the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene launched today is a unique mix of financial and technical resources from American, Kenyan, and other partners.

Research institutions and pharmaceutical companies will develop improved treatments and interventions to help protect those vulnerable to malaria and its impacts. Community- and faith-based organizations and other NGOs can extend deeply into societies and cultures to ensure that health care services, malaria treatments and interventions get to hard-to-reach populations.

Let me also highlight the innovative Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, in which international partners have come together to combine financial, technical, management, and other expertise to marshal and disburse resources for effective, accountable projects. The Fund, to which the United States is the largest contributor, has approved grants for projects to fight malaria totaling $259 million to 25 African countries over the next 2 years.

In addition to public-private partnerships, the United States has an active bilateral program dealing with health issues. Over the last 3 years, for example, we have committed nearly $1.8 billion to health programs in Africa, including $260 million for research in African institutions. We expect to obligate at least $621 million for African health projects in FY 2004. This doesn’t even include the additional funds allocated by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. In addition, research funding in the next fiscal year to the region is expected to total $113 million.

Our approach to malaria, as for other infectious diseases, is multisectoral. Our work to fight environmental degradation, for instance, often has human health benefits. This past Tuesday, April 22, was Earth Day, and Secretary of State Powell hosted Dr. Jane Goodall at the State Department for a discussion about initiatives to combat illegal logging. Logged forest areas are breeding grounds for mosquitoes that carry malaria, and workers moving into these areas increase their exposure to the disease.

The United States Government is committed to working with our partners to turn the tide against malaria and other infectious diseases. An African child dies every 30 seconds from malaria -- nearly 3,000 deaths every day that we, working together, can stop. Today, on Africa Malaria Day and on every other day of the year, we must do all that we can to turn the tide against this insidious disease. Thank you.