I just spent the past two days (April 21-22) in Washington, DC (my hometown) attending the Action Summit to End Malaria. People came from across the country to be part of this first-time event, hosted by World Vision. The purpose of the summit was to bring concerned citizens together to press Congress to keep its commitment to fight this leading killer of children.
Among the participants, there was a palpable sense of purpose, passion, and true belief that the voices of a few can make a difference. It was encouraging to see people from different walks of life come together to be part of this single life-saving cause.
As summit participants, we got to know one another and had the opportunity to learn from malaria experts, seasoned advocates, and government officials, all committed to eliminating malaria. We learned that malaria is a leading cause of death around the world for children – killing more than 2,000 every day – despite being entirely preventable and treatable. Each year an estimated 880,000 people die from malaria, a vast majority in Africa, and there are approximately 250 million cases of the disease. Half the world’s population is at risk of this mosquito-borne disease. Of the deaths, 85% are children under 5 years old – that’s one child every 40 seconds. Malaria also causes approximately 10,000 maternal deaths each year.
Yet effective, low-cost tools to prevent and treat malaria are well-known. Insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor spraying of insecticides and anti-malaria drugs are highly effective and, apart from immunizations, represent the most cost-effective package of interventions for saving children’s lives. For example, a bed net costs as little as $6 and some malaria drugs less than $1.
(Right now there is no malaria vaccine available. However, scientists and researchers are developing such a vaccine. It is hoped that a first-generation vaccine will be available by 2015 with 50 percent protective efficacy against severe disease and death that would last longer than one year, and that by 2025, a malaria vaccine would be available that would have a protective efficacy of more than 80 percent against clinical disease and that would provide protection for longer than four years.)
Progress is being made in the fight against malaria and U.S. investment is paying off in lives saved. The President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) has been able to reach 32 million people with malaria prevention and treatment since inception. As a result of this U.S. investment, malaria deaths and cases are dropping dramatically in many African countries. For example, Rwanda has achieved a more than 60% drop in malaria deaths and Tanzania reported a 73% reduction in malaria prevalence over the course of 2 years during peak transmission season. In Zambia, malaria prevalence dropped by 53% in just 2 years. Additionally, it is estimated that over the last 10 years, insecticide-treated nets alone have saved the lives of nearly 1 million people.
Support for efforts to combat malaria has far-reaching benefits and is a sound investment in financially constrained times. As one of the most cost-effective set of child health interventions, and having demonstrated a proven record of saving children’s lives, malaria programs represent great “bang for the buck.” Support for malaria programs is not only morally compelling and a sound investment, but is also in our nation’s best interest and can help spur economic growth. Malaria costs an annual estimated $23 billion in lost economic productivity in sub-Saharan Africa alone and is a heavy burden on families, consuming 25-40% of household incomes. The financial cost of malaria contributes to deeper poverty and the disease heavily burdens health systems, slowing down social and economic development. The trend can challenge democratic developments and transitions, and ultimately influences civil conflicts and instability. Malaria investments advance our national interests by promoting solutions that increase stability and development, while simultaneously fostering goodwill toward the U.S.
Failure to adequately invest in malaria control programs now and support global efforts could undermine the progress achieved to date and increase future costs. Global funding for malaria control has increased significantly in recent years, thanks in part to leadership by the U.S. through PMI and the U.S. Agency for International Development, along with support from the Global Fund. Yet current funding is far less than actually needed. Without increasing resources and support, there is risk of resurgence and even greater loss of life, undermining our contributions to date. Millions of children have been protected from becoming infected with malaria in the first place. Yet as a result, in some places an entire cohort of children never developed an immunity to the disease and their lives could be threatened if we do not continue forward progress in controlling malaria.
In preparation for our Hill visits, we received advocacy training from World Vision staff members on the afternoon of the Summit’s first day.
On the second day of the summit, I joined 75 other advocates as we turned our sharpened understanding of malaria and advocacy into practice and took to Capitol Hill to lobby Congress. The message we carried was simple: Malaria is killing more than 2,000 children a day, but we can help stop it. Along with the other 3 folks from the Maryland delegation, I met with the staff of my congressman, Representative Roscoe Bartlett, and my senators, Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski. We were requesting them to support the following requests and vote in favor of these measures:
Increase the U.S. government’s contribution to fight malaria to around $1 billion, including research and development, in FY 2011, and support robust funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. These funds would be invested in some of the world’s most cost-effective interventions and would put the U.S. on track to fulfill the Global AIDS, TB and Malaria Bill commitment.
Support, at a minimum, the President’s FY 2011 $58.5 billion International Affairs Budget request. Robust funding for this budget enables the U.S. to advance national security interests, strengthen U.S. leadership abroad and promote peace and economic growth around the world. In order to realize the funding needed for malaria, this account should be fully funded and across-the-board cuts avoided.
It is important that we fulfill our U.S. commitment to provide $5 billion over 5 years for malaria programs that was made by the passage of the Global AIDS, TB and Malaria Bill in 2008. This legislation was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush, committing the U.S. to significant funding increases for malaria. We have a moral obligation to fulfill this commitment. However, at the current pace, we will not be able to fulfill this national promise without Congressional support. In light of an expanding federal deficit, Congress should cut wasteful government spending and evaluate other opportunities for offsets in order to achieve the malaria funding increases required.
Among the participants, there was a palpable sense of purpose, passion, and true belief that the voices of a few can make a difference. It was encouraging to see people from different walks of life come together to be part of this single life-saving cause.
As summit participants, we got to know one another and had the opportunity to learn from malaria experts, seasoned advocates, and government officials, all committed to eliminating malaria. We learned that malaria is a leading cause of death around the world for children – killing more than 2,000 every day – despite being entirely preventable and treatable. Each year an estimated 880,000 people die from malaria, a vast majority in Africa, and there are approximately 250 million cases of the disease. Half the world’s population is at risk of this mosquito-borne disease. Of the deaths, 85% are children under 5 years old – that’s one child every 40 seconds. Malaria also causes approximately 10,000 maternal deaths each year.
Yet effective, low-cost tools to prevent and treat malaria are well-known. Insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor spraying of insecticides and anti-malaria drugs are highly effective and, apart from immunizations, represent the most cost-effective package of interventions for saving children’s lives. For example, a bed net costs as little as $6 and some malaria drugs less than $1.
(Right now there is no malaria vaccine available. However, scientists and researchers are developing such a vaccine. It is hoped that a first-generation vaccine will be available by 2015 with 50 percent protective efficacy against severe disease and death that would last longer than one year, and that by 2025, a malaria vaccine would be available that would have a protective efficacy of more than 80 percent against clinical disease and that would provide protection for longer than four years.)
Progress is being made in the fight against malaria and U.S. investment is paying off in lives saved. The President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) has been able to reach 32 million people with malaria prevention and treatment since inception. As a result of this U.S. investment, malaria deaths and cases are dropping dramatically in many African countries. For example, Rwanda has achieved a more than 60% drop in malaria deaths and Tanzania reported a 73% reduction in malaria prevalence over the course of 2 years during peak transmission season. In Zambia, malaria prevalence dropped by 53% in just 2 years. Additionally, it is estimated that over the last 10 years, insecticide-treated nets alone have saved the lives of nearly 1 million people.
Support for efforts to combat malaria has far-reaching benefits and is a sound investment in financially constrained times. As one of the most cost-effective set of child health interventions, and having demonstrated a proven record of saving children’s lives, malaria programs represent great “bang for the buck.” Support for malaria programs is not only morally compelling and a sound investment, but is also in our nation’s best interest and can help spur economic growth. Malaria costs an annual estimated $23 billion in lost economic productivity in sub-Saharan Africa alone and is a heavy burden on families, consuming 25-40% of household incomes. The financial cost of malaria contributes to deeper poverty and the disease heavily burdens health systems, slowing down social and economic development. The trend can challenge democratic developments and transitions, and ultimately influences civil conflicts and instability. Malaria investments advance our national interests by promoting solutions that increase stability and development, while simultaneously fostering goodwill toward the U.S.
Failure to adequately invest in malaria control programs now and support global efforts could undermine the progress achieved to date and increase future costs. Global funding for malaria control has increased significantly in recent years, thanks in part to leadership by the U.S. through PMI and the U.S. Agency for International Development, along with support from the Global Fund. Yet current funding is far less than actually needed. Without increasing resources and support, there is risk of resurgence and even greater loss of life, undermining our contributions to date. Millions of children have been protected from becoming infected with malaria in the first place. Yet as a result, in some places an entire cohort of children never developed an immunity to the disease and their lives could be threatened if we do not continue forward progress in controlling malaria.
In preparation for our Hill visits, we received advocacy training from World Vision staff members on the afternoon of the Summit’s first day.
On the second day of the summit, I joined 75 other advocates as we turned our sharpened understanding of malaria and advocacy into practice and took to Capitol Hill to lobby Congress. The message we carried was simple: Malaria is killing more than 2,000 children a day, but we can help stop it. Along with the other 3 folks from the Maryland delegation, I met with the staff of my congressman, Representative Roscoe Bartlett, and my senators, Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski. We were requesting them to support the following requests and vote in favor of these measures:
Increase the U.S. government’s contribution to fight malaria to around $1 billion, including research and development, in FY 2011, and support robust funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. These funds would be invested in some of the world’s most cost-effective interventions and would put the U.S. on track to fulfill the Global AIDS, TB and Malaria Bill commitment.
Support, at a minimum, the President’s FY 2011 $58.5 billion International Affairs Budget request. Robust funding for this budget enables the U.S. to advance national security interests, strengthen U.S. leadership abroad and promote peace and economic growth around the world. In order to realize the funding needed for malaria, this account should be fully funded and across-the-board cuts avoided.
It is important that we fulfill our U.S. commitment to provide $5 billion over 5 years for malaria programs that was made by the passage of the Global AIDS, TB and Malaria Bill in 2008. This legislation was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush, committing the U.S. to significant funding increases for malaria. We have a moral obligation to fulfill this commitment. However, at the current pace, we will not be able to fulfill this national promise without Congressional support. In light of an expanding federal deficit, Congress should cut wasteful government spending and evaluate other opportunities for offsets in order to achieve the malaria funding increases required.
“I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.” Psalm 140:12
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.” Proverbs 31:8
Malaria is a needless killer. We have the means to eliminate it from this planet. (Malaria was eradicated in the U.S. in 1949.) Please pray for wisdom for decision-makers who have the power to increase resources to fight this disease. Pray for the tens of millions of children whose lives have been affected by malaria. Pray for the families of the 2,000 children who will die today from malaria. Pray for the collective will to eradicate malaria, once and for all. Pray for the collective will of non-vulnerable people everywhere, to take action and use their voices to end malaria, once and for all.
