Funding the Fight to End the Scourge of Malaria

President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Request outlines an ambitious proposal to make progress towards his State of the Union call to “end the scourge of malaria”. To this end, the Administration requested Congress fund PMI at $745 million, a $71 million increase.  The Administration also requested that $129 million of Ebola emergency funding be reprogrammed for malaria, representing a total increase of $200 million in funding for the President’s Malaria Initiative over last year’s funding levels.

In addition, the President’s budget requests $1.35 billion in vital funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This robust request signals strong commitment just in time for the Global Fund’s replenishment conference – occurring later this year – and shows that the U.S. is serious about tackling this global issue with the UN, partners, and allies.

Ten years ago, malaria killed one child every 30 seconds. After a decade of robust investment and attention under the Millennium Development Goals, we’ve turned back the clock from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. At a time when malaria still manages to claim over 438,000 lives per year, continued U.S. leadership is critical to ensure that the progress made in the last decade is not lost. If Congress approves the budget request, they will have taken a significant step in continuing the bipartisan tradition of positioning the U.S. Government as a world leader in the fight to defeat malaria.

“As a longtime partner with the President’s Malaria Initiative and the Global Fund, we are ecstatic that the President is prioritizing malaria funding,” said Peter Yeo, Vice President for Public Policy and Advocacy of the United Nations Foundation.  “This budget cements the bipartisan legacy in the fight against malaria and sets us up for success as we look ahead to a 2017 that ushers in a new Congress and a new Administration.” 

Over 6.2 million lives have been saved since 2001, when the U.S. Government assumed a leadership role in the fight to end malaria. Nothing But Nets calls on Congress to robustly fund the President’s Malaria Initiative and Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to save millions more.