News Releases

U.S. Demonstrates Strong Commitment to End Malaria

22 February 2016

GENEVA – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria applauded President Barack Obama's request for an additional $200 million for President Malaria Initiative (PMI) in his 2017 budget proposal, showing strong leadership in global health with smart investments that will save lives.

PMI has led groundbreaking efforts against malaria, and greater investment will achieve even more to prevent, as President Obama put it, “the moral outrage of a child dying from a mosquito bite.”

“PMI is achieving amazing progress,” said Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “We are excited about what more can be achieved, and we are honored to work with PMI as partners.”

In his final State of the Union address on 12 January 2016, President Obama delivered a strong speech that expressed confidence that the world can end malaria with strong investment and collective determination.

With the proposed funding, PMI will launch and expand programs in four countries in West Africa – Sierra Leone, Cote D'Ivoire, and Cameroon, and Burkina Faso – extending PMI’s reach to almost 70 million additional people at risk of malaria. PMI will be able to provide malaria prevention and control to approximately 332 million people at risk across West and Central Africa.

PMI also plans to work with partners to eliminate malaria in Cambodia and Zambia. It will also be able to procure 13.7 million insecticide treated mosquito nets to continue to protect 27 million people from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. The investment will also accelerate research, development and evaluation of new malaria tools focused on better diagnostics, vector control, and medicines.

The world has made momentous progress against malaria in the last 15 years, with the number of deaths more than halving since 2000. However, more than 400,000 still die from malaria each year. Additional investments could help end the epidemic in the next 15 years.