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Changing Lives |
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Compassion Spotlight
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The Need
Although malaria is a preventable and treatable disease, every 30 seconds an African child dies of malaria.
Each year an estimated 300 million to 500 million people worldwide become ill with malaria, and more than 1 million die.
Malaria, a blood-borne infection transmitted to human beings by mosquito bite, is typically found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, where the mosquito and the malaria parasite thrive.
Malaria accounts for approximately 40% of public health expenditures in Africa and causes an annual loss of $12 billion, or 1.3 percent, of Africa’s gross domestic product. While all persons living in areas where malaria is transmitted can be infected, three populations are particularly vulnerable: children under five years of age, pregnant women, and people with HIV/AIDS.
The Response
In June 2005, President Bush launched the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI). He pledged to increase U.S. malaria funding by more than $1.2 billion over five years to reduce deaths due to malaria by 50% in 15 African countries. He also challenged other donor countries, private foundations, and corporations to help reduce the suffering and death caused by this disease. PMI aims to reach 85% of the most vulnerable groups – children under 5 years of age and pregnant women – with proven and effective prevention and treatment measures.
PMI’s ambitious objectives can only be achieved through close partnerships with civil society organizations, including NGOs, community-based organizations, and faith-based groups, which are well placed to deliver services to people in remote areas, and offer a high degree of credibility at the community level. These organizations make up more than 75% of PMI’s partners.
PMI funding was $30 million in FY 2006, rose to $135 million in FY 2007, and will increase to $300 million in each of FYs 2008 and 2009, and to $500 million in FY 2010. PMI programs use several proven and cost-effective prevention and treatment measures. These include: insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs), indoor residual spraying (IRS) of insecticides, intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women (IPTp), and prompt use of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) for those with malaria.
Focus
PMI is focused on 15 African countries with a high burden of malaria, which are phased in over three years:
PMI assists National Malaria Control Programs (NMCPs) in each target country to achieve the President’s goals. In the 15 target countries, PMI also coordinates its efforts with other national and international partners, ranging from the Global Fund and UNICEF to the World Bank.
Results
More than 17 million people have benefited from indoor residual spraying (IRS) in 10 PMI countries.
12.7 million treatments of highly effective ACTs have been procured, of which 7.4 million have already been distributed to health facilities. PMI has trained more than 29,000 health workers in the correct use of ACTs.
More than 1.35 million treatments for intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp) have been procured to reduce the impact of malaria in pregnancy. PMI has also provided training for more than 5,000 health workers on how to administer these treatments correctly.
PMI has built the capacity of NMCPs in the areas of pharmaceutical management, diagnosis, IRS, malaria in pregnancy, and monitoring and evaluation.
In more than half of the PMI countries, at least 70% of households in malaria-endemic areas will own an insecticide-treated mosquito net (ITN) and more than 70 percent of public health facilities will have artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) available by December 2008.
Country Examples
Tanzania: In 2007, PMI worked with the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) to launch IRS in Muleba District in northwest Tanzania, an area with highly seasonal malaria transmission. There was a 37% reduction in patients of all ages that tested positive for malaria during the peak transmission season when compared with previous years, and a 70% reduction in severe anemia, to which malaria is a major contributor.
During the past two years, PMI with the NMCP, the Global Fund and other partners supported a rapid scale-up of ITNs, IRS, and ACTs on the island of Zanzibar in Tanzania.
In July-August 2007, a survey of 10 health facilities showed a greater than 90 percent decline in children under two testing positive for malaria, from 22 percent in 2005 to just 0.7% in 2007.
Uganda: PMI and the NMCP supported an IRS campaign in Kanungu District, Uganda, during February and March 2007. Data collected from the Kihihi Health Center in that district showed a 58% relative reduction in individuals testing positive for malaria in August-October 2006 compared with the same period in 2007.
Malaria Communities Program
On December 14, 2006, at the White House Summit on Malaria, First Lady Laura Bush announced the $30 million Malaria Communities Program (MCP). MCP supports the efforts of communities and indigenous organizations to combat malaria in Africa. The MCP will identify and enable faith-based and other community groups to become new partners in the effort to extend the coverage of malaria prevention and control activities to reach a larger proportion of those most affected by malaria, particularly children under age 5 and pregnant women. MCP is designed to:
Identify and support potential partner organizations and networks of community-based organizations uniquely positioned to work at the community level in PMI focus countries;
Increase local and indigenous capacity to undertake community-based malaria prevention and treatment activities;
Build local ownership of malaria control for the long-term in partnership with communities and national malaria control programs (NMCPs); and
Extend coverage of PMI and NMCP efforts to reach a larger beneficiary population with malaria prevention and control interventions (primary beneficiary groups for the PMI are children under age 5 and pregnant women).
White House Summit on Malaria
President and Mrs. Bush hosted the first White House Summit on Malaria in December 2006. The Summit brought together international experts, corporations, foundations, African civic leaders, and voluntary, faith-based and community nonprofit organizations to raise awareness of malaria and to mobilize grassroots efforts to save millions of lives in Africa.
