[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 429 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 429

         Supporting the goals and ideals of World Malaria Day.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 19, 2012

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
         Supporting the goals and ideals of World Malaria Day.

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 fighting malaria is in the national security interest of the United 
        States Government, as reducing the risk of malaria protects members of 
        the Armed Forces of the United States serving overseas in malaria 
        endemic regions, and reducing malaria deaths helps to promote stability 
        in less developed countries;
Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 35 
        countries, the majority of which are in sub-Saharan Africa, account for 
        98 percent of global malaria deaths;
Whereas young children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to and 
        disproportionately affected by malaria;
Whereas malaria greatly affects child health, as children under the age of 5 
        account for an estimated 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 
        between 75,000 and 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 helped 
        save hundreds of thousands of lives;
Whereas the World Malaria Report 2011 by the World Health Organization states 
        that in 2011, approximately 50 percent of households in sub-Saharan 
        Africa owned at least 1 insecticide-treated mosquito net (referred to in 
        this preamble as an ``ITN''), and household surveys indicated that 96 
        percent of people with access to an ITN within a household actually used 
        the ITN;
Whereas, in 2010, a total of 185,000,000 people were protected by indoor 
        residual spraying (referred to in this preamble as ``IRS'');
Whereas the World Malaria Report 2011 further states that malaria mortality 
        rates have fallen by more than 25 percent globally, and 33 percent in 
        Africa alone, since 2000;
Whereas the World Malaria Report 2011 further states that out of 99 countries 
        with ongoing malaria transmissions, 43 countries recorded decreases of 
        more than 50 percent in the number of malaria cases between 2000 and 
        2010, and 8 other countries recorded decreases of more than 25 percent;
Whereas continued national, regional, and international investment in efforts to 
        eliminate malaria, including prevention and treatment efforts and the 
        development of a vaccine to immunize children from the malaria parasite, 
        is critical in order to continue to reduce malaria deaths, prevent 
        backsliding in areas where progress has been made, and equip the United 
        States and the global community with the tools necessary to fight 
        malaria and other global health threats;
Whereas the United States Government has played a leading role in the recent 
        progress made toward reducing the global burden of malaria, particularly 
        through the President's Malaria Initiative (referred to in this preamble 
        as ``PMI'') and the contribution of the United States to the Global Fund 
        to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria;
Whereas the United States Government is pursuing a comprehensive approach to 
        ending malaria deaths through PMI, the United States Agency for 
        International Development, the National Institutes of Health, the 
        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Defense, 
        and the private sector focused on helping partner countries to achieve 
        major improvements in overall health outcomes through advances in access 
        to, and the quality of, healthcare services in resource-poor settings; 
        and
Whereas PMI, recognizing the burden of malaria on many partner countries, has 
        set a target of reducing the burden of malaria by 50 percent for 
        450,000,000 people, representing 70 percent of the at-risk population in 
        Africa, by 2015: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) supports the goals and ideals of World Malaria Day, 
        including the 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) strongly supports ongoing public-private partnerships 
        to research and develop more effective and affordable tools for 
        malaria diagnosis, treatment, and vaccination;
            (5) recognizes the goals 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; 122 Stat. 2918);
            (6) supports continued leadership by the United States in 
        bilateral, multilateral, and private sector 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 for and financial 
        contributions to efforts worldwide to combat malaria.
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