In Their Own Words
Bill Gates
"By many measures, malaria is easily the worst thing on the planet."
President Obama to the Parliament of Ghana 7/11/09
"Too many still die from diseases that shouldn't kill them. When children are being killed because of a mosquito bite...then we know that more progress must be made."
"That is why my Administration has committed $63 billion to meet these challenges. Building on the strong efforts of President Bush, we will carry forward the fight against HIV/AIDS. We will pursue the goal of ending deaths from malaria and tuberculosis, and eradicating polio. We will fight neglected tropical disease. And we won't confront illnesses in isolation - we will invest in public health systems that promote wellness, and focus on the health of mothers and children."
President Obama's Statement on his Global Health Initiative
"We cannot wall ourselves off from the world and hope for the best, nor ignore the public health challenges beyond our borders."
"We cannot fix every problem. But we have a responsibility to protect the health of our people, while saving lives, reducing suffering, and supporting the health and dignity of people everywhere. America can make a significant difference in meeting these challenges, and that is why my Administration is committed to act."
From President Obama's World Malaria Day Statement, 2009
"The United States stands with our global partners and people around the world to reaffirm our commitment to make the U.S. a leader in ending deaths from malaria by 2015."
"It is time to redouble our efforts to rid the world of a disease that does not have to take lives."
"Together, we have made great strides in addressing this preventable and treatable disease. Across Africa, children and their families are sleeping under bed nets; local groups are working with pregnant women and mothers so that anti-malarial drugs are available for them and for their sick children. In schools and villages, community centers and places of worship, clinics and hospitals, optimism is growing that we can and we will succeed in our ambitious goals."
"Together, we can build on this progress against malaria and address a broad range of global health threats by investing in health systems, and continuing our work with partners to deliver highly effective prevention and treatment measures."
"In Africa, where the disease burden is the greatest, many countries are making dramatic gains in reducing the terrible burden of malaria, particularly for the benefit of those most vulnerable, so that malaria is no longer an intractable fact of life. Today, I recommit to work with our partners in this fight."
2009 G8 Declaration
"Since the Okinawa and Genoa Summits, with the launching of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, we have played a critical role in supporting progress towards health-related MDGs. We have made progress towards universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support; Malaria; Tuberculosis; Polio and child mortality rates. Despite these efforts, progress towards health-related MDGs, especially for child mortality and maternal health is still off-track particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the health situation is further aggravated by the burden of non-communicable diseases. In the current global financial crisis we reaffirm our commitment to address the health needs of the most vulnerable, especially women and children."
"We will implement further efforts towards universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010, with particular focus on prevention and integration of services for HIV/TB. We will combine this with actions to: combat TB and Malaria; address the spread of Neglected Tropical Diseases and work towards completing the task of polio eradication; improve monitoring of emerging infectious diseases."
"We reaffirm our existing commitments, including the US$ 60 billion investment to fight infectious diseases and strengthen health system by 2012. Building on the decisions taken at St. Petersburg, Heiligendamm and Toyako, we have established a follow-up mechanism to monitor the progress of health commitments. We welcome the report submitted by our experts, highlighting progress and proposing further actions, and we commit to further improvements."
Secretary Clinton Foreign Policy Address at the Council on Foreign Relations, 7/15/09
"We will elevate development as a core pillar of American power."
"We advance our security, our prosperity, and our values by improving the material conditions of people's lives around the world. These efforts also lay the groundwork for greater global cooperation, by building the capacity of new partners and tackling shared problems from the ground up."
Congressman Berman on the Announcement of State Department Plan for Strategic Planning of Diplomacy and Development
"I share the Secretary's view of the importance of undertaking a comprehensive and strategic planning process that will clarify the goals and objectives of our foreign policy and foreign aid programs, define the roles of the various civilian agencies in implementing them, and identify the appropriate resources and mechanisms for achieving them.
"As the process moves forward, special focus and attention should be paid to the long-term goal of reducing poverty and promoting broad-based and sustainable economic growth in developing countries, which must not be subordinated to short-term political and diplomatic objectives. Contributing to the advancement of internationally-recognized development goals serves not only our moral and humanitarian interests, but also our national security imperatives because it increases stability and reduces the likelihood of failed states."
Kaiser Family Foundation Briefing on Malaria, June 17 2009
Admiral Timothy Ziemer
"[Malaria] is a very important strategic component of the U.S. government's foreign assistance program. In this world of many challenges and distractions, we're seeing a few bright spots coming to us from many global health programs, but specifically malaria."
"We're seeing figures like a 30-percent reduction in all cause mortality in Rwanda, Zambia, Senegal and Ghana. That's pretty good, and where we are specifically working some of these interventions, we're seeing prevalence drop between 50 and 70-percent in some of the districts."
"President Obama and Secretary Clinton have included...malaria in their vision and view of global health as a foreign assistance strategy.
Ambassador Mark Green
"This is very much malaria's moment. As we take a look at public policy and global health policy, it's malaria's time. I think there is a recognition in the fields of science and medicine and in politics in diplomacy that this is the moment that all of us must seize if we're going to realize [our] goals and objectives."
"If you go back to Secretary Clinton's Confirmation Hearings and the statement that she made and how she responded to questions, she actually singled out malaria and singled out malaria in East Africa as a way of making inroads and building stronger ties to parts of the world and to cultures where we have had challenges, diplomatically and politically, over the years."
"We're at an amazingly exciting time, a time of optimism in the battle against malaria.
We have come an extraordinary way. We have a long way to go. We cannot lose our focus and we certainly can't let up. If we do, we will regret it."
David Brandling-Bennett
"PMI has not been what is typical of many bilateral activities a project apart or one of many projects in a country, but it has really been a true partner of national malaria control programs and I think this has been very effective and I think has been a new modality, a new approach, which we need to emulate in many other areas."
From U.S. Malaria Coordinator, Admiral Tim Ziemer, on World Malaria Day 2009
"Malaria is often referred to as a disease of poverty as it mostly afflicts those who are least able to afford prevention and treatment services. Economic losses due to malaria in Africa are estimated to be about US$12 billion per year. Men and women are kept from work, children from school, and many families are forced to use much of their modest discretionary income to pay for expensive malaria treatments."
"Widespread distribution of mosquito nets that prevent mosquitoes from biting their intended victims, new and effective drugs to treat malaria, medicines that protect pregnant women and their unborn babies, and spraying insecticides on the inside walls of homes to kill mosquitoes that transmit the disease are all sharply reducing malaria deaths in several African countries. These efforts are bringing newfound hope that malaria is not an intractable problem, and giving children a fighting chance to improve their quality of life and build better futures."
"The prize in reducing the intolerable burden of malaria in Africa will be not only be healthier mothers and children, but also a chance for the poorest of the poor to benefit from greater socioeconomic development."
Statement from President Bill Clinton on World Malaria Day 2009
"Malaria was eliminated in the United States over a half a century ago, yet more than 1 million people around the world still die from the disease each year, making it one of the most pressing health challenges the world faces today. More must be done to permanently lift the burden of this terrible disease from communities and entire countries."
"Millions of lives, mostly very young ones, hang in the balance. This is a fight we can win."
Tony Blair (Upon announcing the launch of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation)
"We are joining with the Malaria No More Campaign, a wonderful organization whose mission is to end death through malaria in the next 5 - 10 years...Malaria continues to strike and combating it is a huge opportunity for people across the faiths - Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist as well as the Abrahamic faiths - to act in unison."
Chris Dodd, 1/14/09 at Global Action for Children Awards dinner
"Certainly, the recent "PEPFAR" bill is but one indicator of not only the progress we can make for children's health when we work together but also the message we can send. At a time when our Nation's image overseas has been so badly damaged, our sustained commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS globally through this law has reminded the world that Americans are the compassionate, caring and generous people each of us knows we can be."
"Of course, there's much more to do. First, we have to fully fund these initiatives - and as someone who is spending day and night helping to fashion a response to the global economic crisis as Banking Chairman, I can tell you that it won't be easy. I'm encouraged by President-elect Obama's commitment to this issue and know that there are many Members in Congress deeply committed to this issue."
"Indeed, for all the divisions you have seen in Washington these past several years, the issues that bring us together today enjoy substantial bipartisan commitment. Joe Biden, Dick Lugar, Tom Lantos, Henry Hyde - these individuals are synonymous with our commitment to the health and well-being of children across the world - and I would include President Bush in that group for his commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS globally. Still, we all know there will be a temptation in the coming weeks and months to scale back our commitment abroad as we seek to address our challenges here at home. That is why we will need every ounce of your energy and tenacity to push for full funding of these programs in this difficult economic climate."
"All these issues come down to the same thing: To our commitment - to not only what we expect of others, but what we expect of ourselves. We have worked together to develop creative solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems - and we've made some remarkable progress. But I challenge you and all of us-and myself included-to think differently about how we can go even further, even in the face of a global economic crisis."
Dick Lugar, 1/14/09 at Global Action for Children Awards dinner
"As we contemplate the policies of the next Administration and Congress in a time of extreme economic uncertainty, we must remind ourselves that children who are vulnerable cannot wait for convenient political or budgetary circumstances. In fact, their vulnerability intensifies when times are most difficult.
One billion children are currently living in poverty, and more than nine million children are dying annually of preventable diseases and malnutrition. The orphan crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has implications for political stability, development, and human welfare that extend far beyond the region.
Orphans and vulnerable children face basic challenges every day, including finding money for school fees and clothing, acquiring nutritious food, and gaining access to healthcare. Their desperation makes them more vulnerable to disease, abuse and exploitation."
"American society is constantly in need of a reflective debate on the moral underpinnings of our foreign policy decisions. No nation is more closely associated with a set of historic moral precepts. And for better or worse, no nation is judged more meticulously according to its own articulated values. Though our history is not without missteps, I believe the United States has been and still is a tremendous force for good in the world.