President Bush Announces Ethiopia as New Focus Country for President’s Malaria Initiative

December 14, 2006
No. 47/06

December 14, 2006 -- At the White House Summit on Malaria today, President Bush announced Ethiopia as a new focus country for the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI)—an historic $1.2 billion, five-year initiative to control malaria in 15 of the highest-burden countries in Africa.

“One million last year alone died on the African continent because of malaria.  And in the overwhelming majority of cases, the victims are less than 5 years old, their lives suddenly ended by nothing more than a mosquito bite.  The toll of malaria is even more tragic because the disease itself is highly treatable and preventable… we know that large-scale action can defeat this disease in whole regions.  The world must take action,” President George W. Bush said. 

Malaria is a major health problem in Ethiopia, where an estimated 48 million, or 68 percent of the population, live in areas at risk of the disease. The country was chosen by a U.S. government inter-agency group based on the burden of malaria, sound malaria control practices and interest on the part of the host country, and other factors. Assessment missions to identify possible program elements are already underway.

The new initiative will significantly increase resources to the focus countries, providing the most advanced and effective prevention and treatment methods available.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to work with existing national programs scale up proven interventions to reduce the burden of malaria in Ethiopia,” said Chargé d’Affaires Janet Wilgus.  “Preventing this deadly disease will improve life, reduce costs related to illness, boost productivity and, most importantly, save countless lives.”

The President and Mrs. Bush hosted the Summit in Washington, D.C., to discuss and highlight measures for controlling malaria and jump-start an ambitious public-private effort to control malaria with leading international experts, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), faith-based and service organizations, multilateral institutions, corporations, foundations, and industry leaders. 

This new program is an interagency initiative led by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), with the Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a key partner.  The goal is to cut malaria-attributed deaths by 50 percent in the 15 focus countries in Africa by supporting a comprehensive malaria control effort led by national programs. 

This goal will be achieved by reaching 85 percent of the most vulnerable groups —- children under 5 years of age and pregnant women — with proven and effective prevention and treatment measures. This includes indoor residual spraying of households with insecticides; the distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets to families; intermittent, preventive treatment of pregnant women with antimalarials; and the roll-out of new, lifesaving, artemisinin-combination therapy to treat patients with malaria. 
By the end of November 2006, PMI was supporting activities to benefit approximately 6 million Africans in the initial three countries of Tanzania, Angola, and Uganda. A series of highly effective programs are scheduled for launch over the next several months that will benefit millions more.

Ethiopia joins Liberia, Kenya, Zambia, Mali, Madagascar, Benin, and Ghana as new focus countries. Tanzania, Uganda, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Senegal are current PMI focus countries.

 “Malaria is preventable and treatable, yet it is a major killer throughout Africa,” said Rear Admiral R. Timothy Ziemer (U.S. Navy, retired), U.S. Malaria Coordinator. “The President and Mrs. Bush are committed to saving millions of lives in Africa and challenge the private sector to join the U.S. government in combating malaria.” 

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