America Battles Malaria Every Day
Statement Released to the Media
by Kent R. Hill, Acting Assistant Administrator for Global Health
Originially Published in the Washington Examiner
April 24, 2005
Today on Africa Malaria Day, the public should be aware of the U.S. government and the international community to defeat this terrible disease. Malaria affects some 500 million persons every year. Ninety percent of those who die are in Africa, mostly children. Malaria alone leads to a loss of $12 billion a year in Africa's gross domestic product. This is unacceptable.
The U.S. Agency for International Development is making an impact. Under-5 mortality rates are starting to decline in several African countries where malaria interventions are in place. Insecticide-treated bed nets are used by millions of families throughout Africa. Effective drugs will be increasingly available.
The administration has quadrupled USAID's malaria budget from $22 million in fiscal year 1998 to roughly $90 million in fiscal year 2005. This is in addition to the expected $300 million in U.S. funds to be utilized for malaria over the next two years by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Last week, Roger Bate wrote in The Examiner about his views of the agency's efforts to combat malaria ("USAID Fights Malaria Blindfolded," April 20); we don't agree with his views. There are facts left out.
USAID has a comprehensive prevention and treatment strategy to battle malaria. This strategy includes special efforts focusing on malaria in complex emergency settings.
The most effective way to prevent this disease is through the selective use of insecticides that kill the malaria-transmitting mosquito. There are two options for getting insecticides into the homes of those most at risk: indoor spraying and insecticide-treated bed nets. USAID supports both spraying and treated nets. The real challenge is getting the insecticide where it can save the most lives. The choice of which intervention to use should be driven by local conditions and needs.
The fact is, insecticide-treated bed nets can reach people where spraying cannot - in areas where there is little organized infrastructure for spraying. Furthermore, for indoor spraying to be an effective malaria prevention and control agent, a high percentage of homes in any community must be treated, which isn't possible if spray teams can't get there.
The Global Development Alliance is USAID's hub for the agency's many public-private partnerships. One such collaboration is the NetMark program, which expands distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets through the commercial sector to boost malaria prevention and control. This is common sense. Why? Because delivering nets through the commercial sector - and ultimately the local African market - will help ensure their availability to those who need them for the long run. The private sector can also share the cost.
As the malaria parasite adapts and becomes more resistant to drugs, the international community is working to increase production of artemisinin combination therapy (ACT), derived from the Artemisia annua plant and highly effective in treating the disease. Since 1998, USAID has backed safety and efficacy testing of ACTs in Africa, a topic Mr. Bate chose not to highlight.
Since 2001, 40 countries - including 20 African nations - have switched from old malaria drugs to ACTs. An estimated 15 million malaria cases were treated with the drug in 2003, and demand for artemisinin drugs will rise to 150 million cases by 2007. To help meet this increased demand, USAID and its partners in Roll Back Malaria have entered into agreements with agricultural producers in East Africa to help farmers grow Artemisia annua plants. We hope and expect this partnership - again through USAID's Global Development Alliance - will be able to produce an additional 40 million pediatric doses by the end of 2005.
These efforts have been long in the making. About two years ago, at the behest of USAID, the Institute of Medicine convened a study committee to explore the economics of antimarial drugs like artemisinin combination therapy. Published in July 2004, the report helps to spur additional policy discussion on how to rapidly produce and distribute artemisinin combination therapy. USAID is a partner in the talks.
USAID is focusing on ways to save millions from malaria. Too many lives are at stake to delay moving ahead quickly on universally agreed strategies. As this year's theme for Africa Malaria Day states, we must unite against malaria.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.
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