Malaria Watch tv: Foreign Assistance Members of the Malaria Policy Center team discuss U.S. foreign assistance for malaria and its importance in the fight against this disease.
The Malaria Policy Center would like to welcome you to our very first newsletter. We will be putting this newsletter out monthly with all of the latest news related to malaria policy in the U.S. and around the world.
The Policy Center in Tanzania
Mark Green and Jonathan Shradar traveled to Tanzania this month to raise awareness and create channels from which Malaria No More and Tanzanian entities can unite to fight this terrible disease. Mark Green met with President Kikwete while there.
The President agreed that his administration had a historic opportunity to end malaria deaths in Tanzania, and that the time was right to launch a major campaign push to get the whole country behind the effort. He committed himself to playing a central role in the advocacy push MNM is helping to develop ("Surround Sound").
Malaria received $585 Million at the Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations bill markup recently. The President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) expected to receive $500 Million in 2010 and it appears that we have reached that threshold.
This increase of roughly $200 Million represents an increase of 36% in malaria funding and it lines up with what the President asked for in his budget request. Malaria received similar support on the Senate side and is expected to maintain these levels throughout the entire process.
This budget support is a positive demonstration of commitment by the White House and Congress during a difficult economic climate.
The G8 conducted its 2009 Summit in July and reaffirmed its commitment to fighting malaria and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The G8 also pledged to meet its prior commitment to provide $100 million dollars to purchase bednets as well as provide $60 Billion to fight infectious diseases.
During his trip to Ghana recently, President Obama visited the La General Hospital in the Greater Accra Region to show support for the important health work that various organizations are participating in, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ghanaian Ministry of Health.
One of the major health objectives that USAID and the Ghanaian Ministry of Health seek to accomplish is malaria prevention for pregnant women and infants. A prominent issue in maternal and child health, malaria infections during pregnancy causes the deaths of 10,000 pregnant women and 200,000 of their infants each year.
