April 23rd, 2009
Malaria Champions Honored on Captiol Hill
Washington, D.C. - Three members of Congress and the U.N. Special Envoy for Malaria were honored today at a breakfast hosted by malaria community partners Malaria No More, World Vision, ONE and Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Malaria Champions Breakfast brought together lawmakers and malaria advocates to celebrate the expansion of the Congressional Malaria Caucus to over 50 members and the success of malaria programs to date.
Senator Russ Feingold, Chairman Donald Payne, Representative John Boozman and U.N. Special Envoy for Malaria Ray Chambers, were awarded the Malaria Champion Award in recognition of their work to defeat the disease that takes the life of an African child every 30 seconds. The recipients were presented the awards by actor Forest Whitaker, Sarah Brown, maternal health advocate and wife of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Peter Chernin, President and COO of Newscorp.
Members of the malaria advocacy community recognized the successes in the fight against malaria but focused on the work that remains ahead as they work to end malaria deaths by 2015.
"On World Malaria Day we are celebrating a great opportunity, the opportunity to score the first great humanitarian victory of the century, an end to malaria deaths," said Mark Green, Director of the Malaria Policy Center. "This is only an opportunity, not an inevitability, we have work to do."
"Millions more people are protected from this leading killer of children today than two years ago, thanks to the support of courageous U.S. leaders," said Joseph Mettimano, World Vision's vice president of advocacy. "Great progress is being made, and it's critical we keep up the fight to end malaria for the nearly one million children and parents still dying each year. From the halls of Congress to Cote d'Ivoire and beyond, we need robust leadership and full funding for anti-malaria activities so we can proudly proclaim an end to malaria in our lifetime."
"The collective successes of the Global Fund, PMI and African countries in the fight against malaria have given us reason to believe that a day when no one dies from malaria is within reach," said Josh Lozman, Acting Global Policy Director of ONE. "These successes should ignite donors and endemic countries to fill the remaining funding gap that can help make this lofty goal a life-saving reality."
"The U.S. government has been a strong leader in the worldwide fight against malaria through its support of organizations like the Global Fund," said Natasha Bilimoria, Executive Director of Friends of the Global Fight. "With U.S. government funding and contributions from other wealthy countries, the Global Fund now finances nearly two-thirds of malaria programs in the world today, leveraging U.S. dollars toward country-led, performance-driven programs in 83 countries around the world. This is great momentum that must continue if we hope to eliminate malaria around the world."
Congressional Malaria Caucus
Co-Chairs: The Honorable Donald M. Payne, NJ and the Honorable John Boozman, AR
Members
The Honorable Christopher Smith, NJ / The Honorable Barbara Lee, CA
The Honorable Eliot L. Engel, NY / The Honorable William D. Delahunt, MA
The Honorable Gary L. Ackerman, NY / The Honorable Robert Wexler, FL
The Honorable Gregory W. Meeks, NY / The Honorable Lynn Woolsey, CA
The Honorable Norm Dicks, WA / The Honorable Russ Carnahan, MO
The Honorable Donna Christensen, VI / The Honorable Dave Reichert, WA
The Honorable Vic Synder, AR / The Honorable Brad Miller, NC
The Honorable Diane E. Watson, CA / The Honorable Gene Green, TX
The Honorable Sheila Jackson-Lee, TX / The Honorable Jim Himes, CT
The Honorable Thaddeus McCotter, MI / The Honorable Ander Crenshaw, FL
The Honorable Jeff Miller, FL / The Honorable Vernon Ehlers, MI
The Honorable Adam Schiff, CA / The Honorable Tom Petri, WI
The Honorable Alcee Hastings, FL / The Honorable John Conyers, MI
The Honorable Paul Ryan, WI / The Honorable Devin Nunes, CA
The Honorable Mark Kirk, IL / The Honorable James Clyburn, SC
The Honorable Steve Kagen, WI /The Honorable Dan Boren, OK
The Honorable Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, WA / The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, FL
The Honorable Zoe Lofgren, CA / The Honorable Hank Johnson, GA
The Honorable Lois Capps, CA / The Honorable Bobby Rush, IL
The Honorable Charles Rangel, NY /The Honorable Don Manzullo, IL
The Honorable Joe Wilson, SC / The Honorable Tom Perriello, VA
The Honorable Joe Crowley, NY / The Honorable Lincoln Diaz-Balart, FL
The Honorable Kendrick Meek, FL / The Honorable Corrine Brown, FL
The Honorable Henry Waxman, CA / The Honorable Jan Schakowsky, IL
The Honorable Steve Cohen, TN / The Honorable Sanford Bishop, GA
The Honorable Tammy Baldwin, WI