US to tackle malaria in Africa
2006-12-13 10:06
Washington - Celebrities, experts and political leaders will join forces at a White House summit on Thursday aimed at mobilising governments and the private sector to fight malaria in Africa.
United States officials said the meeting would kick-start an ambitious public-private effort to combat malaria as well as serve as a platform to encourage governments and private entities to join forces against the mosquito-borne disease.
President George W Bush and First Lady Laura Bush would host the summit, whose participants would include African and United Nations officials, non-governmental organisations, and stars including South African singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka, a UN Children's Fund goodwill ambassador for malaria.
American public 'needs education'
Anita McBride, Laura Bush's chief of staff, said: "The purpose of the summit is to jump start the public-private effort, to educate the American public about malaria and to send a message globally to governments around the world that we need to join together to control malaria."
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), malaria killed more than a million people a year, 90% of them in Africa. It was the leading cause of death for children under five in Africa.
President Bush announced last year a 1.2-billion-dollar, five-year "President's Malaria Initiative" (PMI) to reduce malaria-related deaths by half in 15 hard-hit African countries.
Retired admiral Timothy Ziemer, who leads PMI, said the June 2005 announcement was also a challenge to the private sector to join efforts against malaria .
Ziemer said: "We can't do it alone and we need the help of everybody to take this on."
He said PMI aid in Angola, Tanzania and Uganda had already reached six million people. The assistance included spraying against mosquitoes, handing out bednets to protect humans from the insects and drug treatment.
Bill Gates pledges $83.5m
Four other countries - Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda and Senegal - had been picked to receive the assistance, while eight others were yet to be named.
John Bridgeland, who heads the non-profit campaign, Malaria No More, said his group would use the summit to rally private support in the cause.
Bridgeland, a former Bush aide, said: "It's literally our base camp, where this is a first step in a three-month undertaking, to help galvanise and organise the private sector."
Other summit participants would include US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, WHO chief Margaret Chan and Melinda Gates, the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Gates Foundation of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda pledged on Monday $83.5m in new grants to boost access to bednets and treatment as well as speed research on vaccines.
At the summit, which would take place at the National Geographic Society here, Melinda Gates would urge world leaders to agree on a new, co-ordinated global strategy to fight malaria.