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Skriven 2007-02-15 23:32:28 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0702152) for Thu, 2007 Feb 15
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Mrs. Bush's Remarks in a Compassion in Action Roundtable to Discuss
Controlling Malaria in Africa
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For Immediate Release
Office of the First Lady
February 15, 2007

Mrs. Bush's Remarks in a Compassion in Action Roundtable to Discuss
Controlling Malaria in Africa
Eisenhower Executive Office Building Room 450



11:42 A.M. EST

MRS. BUSH: Thank you all, thanks so much. Thank you, Randy. Thank you,
Ambassador Tobias. Thank you very much for that very kind introduction and
for your words telling us what all of us can do, how we can join together
to defeat malaria and other diseases and, at the same time, save lives.

I want to acknowledge Admiral Ziemer. Thank you for your great work as
Global AIDS Coordinator for USAID. Jay Hein, the Director of the Office of
Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, for convening this conference, thank
you very much for your great work. And Dr. John DeGioia, from Georgetown
University. And John Bridgeland, thank you for working as the CEO of
Malaria No More.

I want to welcome everyone here today. Thank you all for coming. Thank you
for coming to see how your organization or your faith-based group can be
involved in this fight against malaria, and what you can do individually
and as a group, and what we can all do together to make sure people around
the world can live healthy and successful lives.

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. Already, PMI is saving lives and spreading hope. Aid from
the American people -- that's the American taxpayers -- has reached more
than 6 million Africans. This year, 30 million more will receive lifesaving
medicines, sprays and nets as the program expands. The Malaria Initiative
also calls on developed countries, private foundations and volunteer groups
to help reduce suffering and death caused by this disease.

Private sector institutions bring a fresh perspective and a personal touch
to the fight against malaria, especially our community and faith-based
organizations. In the United States, religious groups can enlist millions
of volunteers and donors with their message of compassion and hope. In many
African villages, churches are the only formal institutions that can manage
malaria control and prevention. In malaria-prone regions, people look first
to their churches, mosques or synagogues for help. They trust their pastors
to provide it. We've just heard about the recent Gallup survey conducted in
18 African nations that asked citizens which social or political
organization they trust the most. And overwhelmingly, people reported the
greatest confidence in their religious institutions.

Our government is proud to partner with these organizations. At the White
House Summit on Malaria in December, I announced the Malaria Communities
Program, a $30 million initiative that will provide grants to African and
American NGOs, as well as civic and religious groups, to support their
malaria control efforts. The Communities Program will encourage charitable
organizations already doing relief work in Africa to add malaria control to
their services. It complements the efforts of African governments by
creating independent, sustainable malaria control programs. And in villages
throughout Africa, these initiatives can protect children and their
families long after PMI sunsets.

The Malaria Communities Program builds on the lifesaving projects that
churches and NGOs already have underway. Through Catholic Relief Services,
millions of parishioners in the United States provide treatment, prevention
and care to their brothers and sisters in Africa. Through the CORE group
and the Inter-Religious Campaign Against Malaria, representatives of many
faiths have united to develop national malaria control programs for Rwanda
and Mozambique.

At the White House summit, with the help of Malaria No More, religious and
community organizations made the commitment to fight against malaria.
Muslim and Jewish organizations pledged to mobilize their communities. The
National Council of Churches will use the World Wide Web to launch
education campaigns and to collect online donations. Rick Warren's
Saddleback Church will recruit 100,000 volunteers who will help 2.5 million
Africans combat malaria in their villages. Over the next three years,
Episcopal Relief and Development will distribute one million long-lasting
insecticide-treated nets in 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. They'll
also train volunteers to monitor net distribution, and to make sure these
resources are used effectively.

Religious groups add to the anti-malaria resources committed by the United
States and our partner governments. And they heal the sick and suffering
with the faith, hope and love that governments can't provide.

President Bush and I appreciate your work. We urge you and even more
faith-based and community organizations to join these efforts. We also
encourage religious and community groups to reach more people by using
their resources strategically. By working with PMI, relief organizations,
businesses, philanthropies, churches and NGOs, working together can save
more lives.

We've already seen the benefits of this coordination. In Tanzania, the
government's malaria program subsidizes bed net vouchers for pregnant
women. Now through a partnership between PMI and Mennonite Economic
Development Associates, the programs will be expanded to cover all of
Tanzania's children.

Since the program was launched in late November, nets have been supplied to
nearly 390,000 infants. The program will reach an additional 1.5 million
babies every year. And in southern Angola, PMI recently joined with the
government to launch a residential mosquito spraying program. PMI supplied
the insecticide sprays, but it was the Christian Children's Fund that
conducted all of the community education programs. CCF spread throughout
rural Angola, teaching residents how mosquito sprays can save them and
their children from malaria. CCF workers explained how spraying campaigns
are conducted, and taught residents to prepare their homes by moving their
furniture away from the walls. Thanks to the coordination between PMI and
the Christian Children's Fund, 90 percent of the targeted families opened
their homes to the spray, and more than 500,000 people were protected from
malaria.

People of faith have always reached out to their neighbors in need. They've
fed the hungry, cared for the neglected and healed the sick. They do these
things not for their own benefit, but guided by the belief that every human
life has value and dignity. By working together, and coordinating with PMI
and other initiatives, people of faith can now help save millions of lives
from malaria.

Thanks to each of you for coming. May God bless you, and may God bless your
work. Thank you all very much. (Applause.)

END 11:50 A.M. EST
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