America.gov (Washington, DC)
18 February 2008
Dar es Salaam — Calling the suffering caused by malaria "needless," and "every death caused by malaria ... unacceptable," President Bush says an initiative to distribute 5.2 million free bed nets in Tanzania will be enough to protect every child in the country between the ages of 1 and 5.
At least one million infants and children under the age of 5 die each year from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, or about one every 30 seconds -- a number greater than the entire population of San Francisco or twice the population of Washington.
After announcing the initiative February 18, Bush was the first to hand out some of the free, specially treated bed nets to needy Tanzanians.
The program, which is sponsored by the United States and Tanzania in partnership with the World Bank and Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, is urgently needed because "it is unacceptable to people here in Africa who see their families devastated and economies crippled," Bush said.
The situation also is unacceptable "to people in the United States, who believe that every human life has value," especially "when the power to save lives comes with the moral obligation to use it," he continued.
Bush called the bed nets the simplest way to prevent malaria. He noted that the bed net program not only will save lives by protecting people while they sleep from malaria-carrying mosquitoes, but will help support the local economy because the bed nets will be produced at a local plant.
VISIT TO MERU DISTRICT HOSPITAL
Bush made his announcement at the Meru District Hospital in the northern Tanzanian city of Arusha, which lies in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro and is a President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) partner facility. He and first lady Laura Bush traveled there on their last full day in Tanzania to see firsthand how the initiative is saving lives.
The Meru District Hospital -- a 120-bed facility -- functions as a major malaria treatment center handling some 1300 cases monthly.
Bush praised the facility for being on the "forefront" of the fight against malaria. While touring the facility, he and the first lady hugged staff and children, met pregnant women who are receiving insecticide-treated bed nets and visited a pediatric ward to see firsthand children being diagnosed and treated for malaria.
"For years malaria has been a health crisis in sub-Sahara Africa," Bush told his audience. "The disease keeps sick workers home, schoolyards quiet and communities in mourning." That, he reiterated, is "unacceptable."
POSITIVE RESULTS FROM PRESIDENT'S MALARIA INITIATIVE
Through the President's Malaria Initiative, positive results already are apparent in Tanzania, Bush said. "In June 2006, at the District Hospital in Muleba, more than 50 people died of malaria. In June 2007, after a spraying campaign sponsored by our [President's] Malaria Initiative, the number of deaths had dropped to five," he said.
Bush added that in Zanzibar "the percentage of infants infected with malaria has dropped from about 20 percent to less than 1 percent" in the wake of the initiative.
"The campaign to fight malaria has the support of government and citizens alike," not only across Africa but worldwide as well. American schoolchildren have raised money to pay for bed nets in Africa, and many faith-based organizations have sent their people to Africa to fight the mosquito-borne illness, according to Bush.
Bush launched the PMI in June 2005, pledging to increase malaria funding by more than $1.2 billion over five years to reduce deaths by malaria by 50 percent in 15 African countries.
PMI uses a comprehensive approach to prevent and treat malaria, supporting four key areas: indoor spraying of homes with insecticides; insecticide-treated bed nets; lifesaving anti-malarial drugs and treatment to prevent malaria in pregnant women.
In Tanzania, thousands of homes have been sprayed and millions of people protected through PMI, Bush said. Additionally through PMI, more than 2,400 health workers have been trained to provide treatment to protect expectant mothers, more than 1 million drug courses of treatment have been provided and more than 5000 health workers have been trained to educate people in the use of those drugs.
VISIT TO BED NET FACTORY
Besides visiting the Meru District Hospital, the president and first lady also toured the A to Z Textile Mills, a complex in Arusha that produces the insecticide-treated bed nets. The factory has a control room with laboratory equipment to inspect fabric strength and ensure that the nets contain the required amount of insecticide.
To date, more than 3 million bed net vouchers already have been distributed in Tanzania under a separate program, with roughly 1.9 million from PMI. The vouchers under that program allow people to purchase their bed nets at a 75 percent discount from local retailers.
Before boarding Air Force One for the return trip to Dar es Salaam, the president and first lady also stopped off at the Maasai Girls School for a visit.
Bush leaves Tanzania February 18 for onward travel to Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia before returning home later this week. His February 15-21 Africa trip started in Benin.
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