United to Beat Malaria Calls for Strong U.S. Support to Sustain Progress Against Malaria

WASHINGTON—United to Beat Malaria Executive Director Margaret McDonnell issued the following statement on World Malaria Day: 

This World Malaria Day reminds us that, while the world has made enormous progress against this disease in recent decades, this progress cannot be taken for granted and continued U.S. investment and partnership with endemic countries is critical to achieving a malaria-free world.  

Through the work of the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), World Health Organization (WHO), and international partners, the death rate from malaria has been cut in half since 2000. These investments have averted 2.2 billion cases of malaria and 12.7 million deaths in just over two decades. Longstanding, bipartisan U.S. leadership across Administrations and Congresses has been critical to this fight.  

But a child dies from malaria every minute. Of the nearly 600,000 people who died of malaria last year, the majority were among society’s most vulnerable: pregnant women, infants, and children younger than five. Continued investment is necessary to ensure no-one dies needlessly from a mosquito bite. These programs also protect Americans who work, travel, or are deployed overseas and prevent significant outbreaks here in the U.S.   

We are grateful that the Administration recognizes that key malaria-fighting programs are lifesaving and therefore should be reinstated. That said, limited funding has been received thus far and many programs remain halted. This is particularly troubling since the rainy season — when malaria cases surge — is approaching in the next few months across much of Africa, which has more than 90% of the global malaria burden.  

Further delays will slow or cripple the distribution of essential preventive measures, including bed nets, indoor residual spraying, seasonal malaria chemoprevention, and malaria vaccines — leaving tens of millions of children and vulnerable people unprotected.  

We urge the United States government to ensure critical congressionally approved funds reach malaria programs, including PMI and Global Fund’s work on the frontlines of global control and elimination efforts; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s surveillance and monitoring of malaria transmission to keep Americans safe; and the work of UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to roll out new and emerging tools in this fight.  

These programs save lives, protect Americans, and can help us achieve a malaria-free world. This fight is winnable and we need to stay in it. Decades of investment and progress are at risk and millions of lives are on the line.