[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 15 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 15

 Supporting the goals and ideals of World Malaria Day, and reaffirming 
United States leadership and support for efforts to combat malaria as a 
    critical component of the President's Global Health Initiative.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 5, 2011

   Mr. Coons (for himself, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Boozman, Mr. 
  Durbin, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Lieberman, and Mr. 
   Merkley) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Supporting the goals and ideals of World Malaria Day, and reaffirming 
United States leadership and support for efforts to combat malaria as a 
    critical component of the President's Global Health Initiative.

Whereas April 25th of each year is recognized internationally as World Malaria 
        Day;
Whereas malaria is a leading cause of death and disease in many developing 
        countries, despite being completely preventable and treatable;
Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 35 
        countries, the majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa, account for 98 
        percent of global malaria deaths;
Whereas young children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable and 
        disproportionately affected by malaria;
Whereas malaria greatly affects child health, with estimates that children under 
        the age of 5 account for 85 percent of malaria deaths each year;
Whereas malaria poses great risks to maternal health, causing complications 
        during delivery, anemia, and low birth weights, with estimates that 
        malaria infection causes 400,000 cases of severe maternal anemia and 
        from 75,000 to 200,000 infant deaths annually in sub-Saharan Africa;
Whereas heightened national, regional, and international efforts to prevent and 
        treat malaria over recent years have made measurable progress and have 
        helped save hundreds of thousands of lives;
Whereas the World Health Organization's World Malaria Report 2010 reports that 
        in 2010, more African households (42 percent) owned at least one 
        insecticide-treated mosquito net (ITN), more children under 5 years of 
        age (35 percent) were using an ITN compared to previous years, and 
        household ITN ownership reached more than 50 percent in 19 African 
        countries;
Whereas the World Health Organization's World Malaria Report 2010 further states 
        that a total of 11 countries and one area in the African Region showed a 
        reduction of more than 50 percent in either confirmed malaria cases or 
        malaria admissions and deaths in recent years (Algeria, Botswana, Cape 
        Verde, Eritrea, Madagascar, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, 
        South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zanzibar, United Republic of 
        Tanzania), and that in all countries, the decreases are associated with 
        intense malaria control interventions;
Whereas continued national, regional, and international investment is critical 
        to continue to reduce malaria deaths and to prevent backsliding in those 
        areas where progress has been made;
Whereas the United States Government has played a major leadership role in the 
        recent progress made toward reducing the global burden of malaria, 
        particularly through the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) and the 
        United States contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, 
        Tuberculosis, and Malaria;
Whereas, on World Malaria Day in 2009, President Barack Obama stated, ``The U.S. 
        stands with our global partners and people around the world to reaffirm 
        our commitment to make the U.S. a leader in ending deaths from malaria 
        by 2015. . . . It is time to redouble our efforts to rid the world of a 
        disease that does not have to take lives.'';
Whereas, under the Global Health Initiative (GHI), the United States Government 
        is pursuing a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach to global 
        health, focused on helping partner countries to achieve major 
        improvements in overall health outcomes through transformational 
        advances in access to, and the quality of, healthcare services in 
        resource-poor settings; and
Whereas recognizing the burden of malaria on many partner countries, PMI has set 
        the target for 2015 of reducing the burden of malaria by 50 percent for 
        450,000,000 people, representing 70 percent of the at-risk population in 
        Africa: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) supports the goals and ideals of World Malaria Day, 
        including the achievable target of ending malaria deaths by 
        2015;
            (2) recognizes the importance of reducing malaria 
        prevalence and deaths to improve overall child and maternal 
        health, especially in sub-Saharan Africa;
            (3) commends the recent progress made toward reducing 
        global malaria deaths and prevalence, particularly through the 
        efforts of the President's Malaria Initiative and the Global 
        Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria;
            (4) welcomes ongoing public-private partnerships to 
        research and develop more effective and affordable tools for 
        malaria diagnosis, treatment, and vaccination;
            (5) reaffirms the goals and commitments to combat malaria 
        in the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global 
        Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria 
        Reauthorization Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-293);
            (6) supports continued leadership and investment by the 
        United States in bilateral and multilateral efforts to combat 
        malaria as a critical part of the President's Global Health 
        Initiative; and
            (7) encourages other members of the international community 
        to sustain and scale up their support and financial 
        contributions for efforts worldwide to combat malaria.
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