Malaria kills more
than 1 million people each year. Most are young
children in sub-Saharan Africa. "Free Africa
from Malaria Now" is the theme of Africa Malaria
Day, April 25, which this year marks also the
first US Malaria Awareness Day.
Thanks to the
President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), millions
of Africans have received potentially lifesaving
interventions to prevent and control malaria.
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A
little girl receives an effective antimalarial
drug for treating malaria and survives an
illness that might otherwise have killed her.
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A
pregnant woman who received an
insecticide-treated net at her last antenatal
care visit credits her family's current good
health to sleeping under that net. Her neighbors
are following the same good practice; the net
protects those who sleep under it from the bite
of the mosquito that spreads malaria.
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A man
welcomes a team into his home so that the inside
walls can be sprayed with an insecticide. The
spray will kill both mosquitoes and nuisance
insects in the home for up to 6 months, and the
family can sleep soundly knowing that indoor
residual spraying (IRS) helps to protect them
from malaria.
The President's Malaria Initiative, a $1.2
billion interagency initiative led by
US
Agency for International Development (USAID) and
implemented together with the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), aims to cut malaria
deaths in half in target countries. In 2005, PMI
began work in 3 African countries, an additional 4
were added in the fall of 2006, and by fall 2007,
PMI will have expanded to all 15 target countries
(2005: Angola, Tanzania, Uganda; 2006: Malawi,
Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal; 2007: Benin, Ethiopia,
Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, and
Zambia).
