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Malaria is a horrific assassin that targets young children and vulnerable women, in particular across sub-Saharan Africa. Slowly, over time, it leaves families, villages and economies devastated. People sometimes think that this deadly disease only affects those on the other side of the world. But Malaria also strikes closer to home, even here in Mexico. While it is often accepted as a fact of life – a consistent and prevalent threat that we must endure – we can do much more to prevent malaria from devastating the lives of so many.
Today, we have new hope in our fight against malaria, and the good news is that the battle is being won. In Mexico, through cooperative efforts of the federal and local governments, 17 of Mexico’s states are now certified as malaria-free (with no malaria-related deaths for over 20 years). According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Mexico registered only 3406 cases in 2004, a drop of over 77% since 1998. Also according to PAHO, since 1998, the Mexican government has increased its budget by 49% to almost $21 million (U.S.) to eliminate this scourge from Mexico.
In fact, one of former Mexican Health Secretary Julio Frenk’s greatest achievements during his tenure in office was a reduction in the Mexican malaria infection rate to 3.2 cases per 100,000 people. His success was based on Mexico’s own model of simple measures involving community ownership and implementation, and is now being replicated in Central America and other Latin American countries. The model has received expressions of interest from as far away as Africa. Indeed, Mexico is a model for what can be done when we fight this disease with determination.
Yesterday, President Bush and Mrs. Bush hosted a White House Summit on Malaria to bring together international experts, corporations and foundations, African civic leaders, and faith-based organizations to raise awareness of the issue of malaria and to mobilize a grassroots effort to save millions of lives in Africa. President Bush has committed $1.2 billion (U.S.) to cut in half the number of deaths from malaria in the African countries hit hardest by the disease. At the White House Summit on Malaria, he will also marshal an ambitious public-private effort to strengthen and expand malaria control efforts in Africa.
This U.S. initiative ensures that new, effective drugs reach rural clinics and replace failing treatments. It also supplies pregnant women with at least two doses of medicine protecting them and their unborn babies from malaria, and provides for long-lasting, insecticide-treated bed nets and insecticide spraying on the inside walls of homes to prevent mosquitoes from biting their intended victims and transmitting the disease.
In little time, these efforts have already reached more than 6 million people in Angola, Tanzania and Uganda. A series of programs that have proven highly effective will launch over the next several months to aid millions more in other countries. In the countries and communities that have already received assistance from the initiative, malaria is no longer a sad fact of life.
This is great news for all of us, in Mexico, in the United States, and across the world. We can beat malaria just as we did in the 1950s when the disease was nearly eradicated. This disease is curable and preventable.
The key in this battle is our resolve and leadership, and the personal responsibility that communities around the world must take in protecting themselves. Nothing is more precious and fragile than our health. To be successful and to stop the spread of malaria, individuals must make protecting their families and their villages a personal priority. And all of us must band together to help our neighbors. Let’s not waste a moment to win the fight against malaria.
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