WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House will hold a summit next month seeking strategies for combating malaria, a largely preventable disease that kills 3,000 children every day and claims nearly a million lives a year in Africa.
President Bush and his wife, Laura, will host the meeting on Dec. 14.
The summit will bring together international experts, multilateral institutions, corporations and foundations, African civic leaders, nongovernmental organizations, and religious and service organizations to discuss measures for controlling malaria, the White House said.
It said the summit’s objectives are to jump-start public-private efforts to control malaria; to educate Americans about the disease and to send a message globally about the need for governments, NGOs, corporations, and private citizens to join together to control malaria.
While malaria once afflicted many Americans, it is virtually unheard of in the United States now. “Over the decades, malaria was eliminated in the United States and elsewhere through science and medical advances,” the White House said in a statement. “The challenge now is to make sure this progress benefits people still at risk of malaria in Africa.”
In June 2005, Bush announced a five-year, $1.2 billion program that challenges the private sector to join the U.S. government in combating malaria in 15 of the hardest-hit countries. The initiative aims to cut malaria-related deaths by 50 percent in these focus countries in Africa.
Tags: Health, Malaria
