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Skriven 2006-12-14 23:31:14 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0612143) for Thu, 2006 Dec 14
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Mrs. Bush's Remarks at the White House Summit on Malaria
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For Immediate Release
Office of the First Lady
December 14, 2006

Mrs. Bush's Remarks at the White House Summit on Malaria
National Geographic Society
Washington, D.C.


˙˙˙˙˙ The White House Summit on Malaria

8:58 A.M. EST

MRS. BUSH: Thank you very, very much. Thank you so much, Dr. Rice, thank
you for your great work as Secretary of State. I want to recognize a few
people in the audience, Mrs. Chantal de Souza Yayi is here. She's the wife
of the President of Benin. She's joining us today. Ambassador Randall
Tobias, who is the Director of Foreign Assistance and Administrator for
USAID, who has been very active in both this and earlier in his government
career as the AIDS administrator with the HIV/AIDS. Admiral Timothy Ziemer.
Admiral Ziemer is the one who is the U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator. He's
been absolutely instrumental in the development of this summit, and in all
the work the President's Malaria Initiative has done so far. Thank you,
Admiral Ziemer. Ray Chambers, who is the Chairman of Malaria No More. Ray
is an example to all of us of someone who because of fortune in his life, a
fortunate life, he has reached out around the world to help other people.
And thank you so much, Ray, for being so involved in this.

The members of Congress who are here, thank you all for coming. The members
of the diplomatic corps. I want to thank our host at National Geographic,
John Fahey and Gilbert Grosvenor. Thank you all very, very much for letting
us meet here today.

Educators, business leaders, philanthropists, researchers, activists, and
distinguished guests. Welcome to the White House Summit on Malaria. Today's
gathering presents us with a historic opportunity to end the suffering of
millions. Governments, the private sector, and concerned citizens have all
united in one place, ready with unprecedented commitments that can turn the
tide against malaria.

We're here because eradicating malaria is an urgent calling. The disease
claims 1.2 million lives every year. It devastates people living with
HIV/AIDS, pregnant women, and especially young children and babies. Malaria
kills 3,000 children in Africa every day. Parents grieve for their sons and
daughters, communities mourn, and developing countries lose generations of
productive citizens.

Adding to the urgency is the fact that malaria is treatable and
preventable. The disease once sickened men, women, and children in many
parts of the United States. But through advances in science and technology,
we learned that the cause of such enormous suffering is a microscopic
parasite, carried by an insect. We learned how to stop the spread of
malaria -- and the disease was eliminated in the United States nearly 60
years ago.

The challenge now is to use this scientific progress, so that it benefits
people still at risk. In June 2005, President Bush launched the President's
Malaria Initiative: a five-year, $1.2 billion program to combat malaria in
15 of the hardest-hit African nations. This initiative calls on developed
countries, private foundations, and volunteer organizations to join to
reduce the suffering and death caused by malaria.

Private foundations and corporations have responded with millions of
dollars for prevention and treatment. Civic groups and religious
organizations have mobilized thousands of volunteers. Through early PMI
partnerships with the first three focus countries, aid from the American
people has reached about 6 million Africans. Next year, 30 million more
will receive life-saving medicines, sprays, and nets as the program
expands.

These partnerships save lives, and spread hope. Last year in the Tanzanian
villages of Kambini and Kiwani, during the peak infection month of June,
local health workers documented more than 450 cases of malaria. This June,
one year into PMI, the number of cases plummeted to eight. In some PMI
areas, malaria researchers have actually complained that they no longer
have enough cases to sustain their studies. They're the only ones
complaining. (Laughter and applause.)

For the Malaria Initiative to save even more lives, its resources must be
used effectively and strategically. Today, I'm delighted to announce that
PMI will launch the Malaria Communities Program: a $30 million initiative
to advance grassroots malaria-control projects in Africa.

The Malaria Communities Program will provide grants to African and American
NGOs, as well as civic and religious groups, to support their
malaria-control work. It will encourage more charitable organizations to
join the fight. The Communities Program complements the efforts of African
governments by creating independent, sustainable malaria-control programs.
In villages throughout Africa, these initiatives can protect children and
their families long after PMI sunsets. Most important, the Malaria
Communities Program will help citizens take charge of their own health.

Defeating this disease requires the cooperation of citizens in Africa. It
also requires the support of citizens here, in the United States. Each and
every one of us has the responsibility to stop the suffering caused by
malaria -- because every life, in every land, matters. And all of us can do
something to help, because one of the best protections against malaria is
simple and inexpensive: a long-lasting, insecticide-treated bed net. Only a
fraction of African homes have the bed nets they need. But any individual
who can raise $10 can buy a net, and save a life.

Individuals throughout our country are saving lives across Africa -- thanks
to Malaria No More, an enormous grassroots network that will work to
provide bed nets for millions of Africans. Communities hold bake sales,
raffles, silent auctions, and read-a-thons. Students sell t-shirts and run
lemonade stands, and even dress up as mosquitoes to show off their efforts.

Concerned citizens can harness the potential of the internet to launch
creative fundraising campaigns. One group, Madness Against Malaria,
established an online "March Madness" fundraising tournament. Sixty-four
teams from around the world compete to see who can accumulate the most
online donations. The team that buys the most bed nets wins the Malaria Cup
trophy -- and saves thousands of lives.

Defeating malaria also requires education. Life-saving nets, sprays, and
medicines work best when people know how to use them. And throughout
Africa, people must know how malaria is transmitted. So private citizens in
Africa and the United States are building partnerships to improve education
in malaria-prone areas.

In Rwanda, Episcopal Bishop John Rucyahana knows that malaria control and
education are inseparable. His diocese provides villagers with malaria
treatment and also teaches the proper use of sprays and nets. At the 62
schools the bishop oversees, children learn early on that malaria
prevention must be a way of life.

The bishop's efforts are supported by churches from across the United
States. From Chicago to Little Rock, from the East Coast to the West,
caring individuals sponsor students, and supply bed nets and medicines.
Hundreds of Americans have visited Rwanda as volunteers, educating
communities about malaria treatment.

A vital part of this education, Bishop Rucyahana says, is teaching
villagers how to read. "Illiteracy goes with poverty," the bishop explains,
"and both perpetuate the disease." So at every one of the diocese's 360
churches, volunteers offer literacy instruction. Through their women's
ministries, the churches make a special effort to reach mothers. They
recognize that literate women can make wise decisions that will protect
them, and their children, from malaria.

Education in the developed world is equally as important. Across America,
the private sector is working to raise the public's awareness of malaria.
Later this morning, you'll hear about one example: Nets Are Nice, a picture
book that teaches children what they can do to help end this disease.

Nets Are Nice was developed by Malaria No More. With corporate and
foundation support, the book will be distributed to nearly 6 million
students throughout the United States this spring. Nets Are Nice is a
terrific educational resource. And it's a great example of how the
government, businesses, and private philanthropists can work together to
educate children in the United States about malaria.

Individual citizens, too, are doing their part. At Lake Oswego High School
in Oregon, a 16-year-old student, Emily Fuller, launched a project to raise
money for bed nets, and to raise awareness in her community. She and her
classmates set up tables outside the school cafeteria and draped them with
nets, attracting curious students. Plans are underway to hold educational
forums in the school auditorium, and to hold fundraising shoot-out contests
during halftime at the school's basketball games.

The principal at Lake Oswego High, Bruce Plato, says teachers are planning
to work malaria education into their political science and world history
classes. "There's a lot of interest in this," the Principal says. "Malaria
is something that's happening half a world away -- but this is something we
can do to help."

Every one of us can do to something to help prevent the suffering caused by
malaria. And the more people know about this disease, the more quickly we
can defeat it.

Today, I'm delighted to announce that President Bush will designate April
25, 2007, as "Malaria Awareness Day." African countries and other nations
commemorate April 25th to raise global awareness of malaria, and to
reaffirm their commitment to ending this disease. The United States is
proud to stand with them.

Ending the malaria epidemic is an ambitious goal -- but one we can, and
must, achieve. By defeating malaria, the American people can help people in
Africa enjoy greater prosperity and good health. Mothers here can help
mothers in Africa watch their children grow healthy and strong. Children
here can help children in Africa delight in the same pleasures they enjoy
-- going to school, playing games, and making and keeping friends.

One of these hopeful children is Kanuri Kimiti, a teenager in Kenya, where
malaria kills more than 30,000 children every year. For an essay contest at
his school, Kanuri wrote: "If we want to develop a country such as Kenya We
must all come together to help one another, so we may be able to make our
world a malaria-free world."

During this holiday season, we urge the citizens of many nations to come
together to give the greatest gift to those in need: life. May God bless
each of you, and your work to make our world a malaria-free world.

Thank you all very much. (Applause.)

END 9:11 A.M. EST
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