[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 46 (Tuesday, April 25, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNITION OF AFRICA MALARIA DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DONALD M. PAYNE

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 25, 2006

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I stand today to recognize Africa Malaria 
Day, declared on April 25, 2000 by 43 African heads of state. That 
declaration marked the end of a 3-day summit called to renew and re-
invigorate Africa's commitment to defeating malaria, a disease that 
takes a terrible toll on the African continent. It renewed a commitment 
to exploit all means possible to finally tame the disease that kills 
more African children than any other single disease. It recognized the 
massive impact of malaria and the potential for reducing that impact. 
It affirmed African leaders' intent to remove roadblocks to malaria 
control and called for more active participation by the international 
community.
  UNICEF and the World Health Organization estimate that malaria kills 
from 1 million to 2 million people every year, most of them young 
children and pregnant women in Africa. Along with HIV/AIDS and 
tuberculosis, malaria remains one of the three biggest infectious 
disease killers in the world today.
  Effective weapons in this fight include prompt access to effective 
treatment, increased use of locally appropriate means of mosquito 
control such as insecticide-treated nets and indoor residual spraying, 
early detection of and response to epidemics, and improved prevention 
and treatment of malaria in pregnant women. To make a sustained impact 
against malaria we need a vaccine.
  There has never been a licensed malaria vaccine, but great progress 
toward that end is now being made, as evidenced by last year's results 
of a malaria vaccine clinical trial in Mozambique. However, people who 
need the vaccine the most are infants and children in developing 
countries. This means that market forces by themselves cannot drive 
malaria vaccine development. Ensuring the successful development of a 
vaccine for a disease that primarily affects the poorest people in the 
world requires public funding for research and development as well as 
funding for vaccine purchase once malaria vaccines are licensed. As a 
nation, we must take the challenge offered by African heads of state in 
2000 and Bill Gates last fall to greatly increase funding for the 
development of new tools to defeat malaria, including a vaccine.
  Global and national efforts to control malaria are making a 
difference. Lives are being saved and the movement to finally control 
malaria in Africa is picking up momentum. Evidence of this includes the 
increasing level of support for malaria control by the Global Fund for 
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, by USAID and the President's Malaria 
Initiative. But more and broader support is needed to achieve the goal 
of ending deaths from malaria in the shortest time possible. For each 
year we delay, another one to two million lives are lost.
  Today, Africa Malaria Day, the equivalent of seven large planeloads 
of children died from malaria. Most of these children were under the 
age of 5. This is a tragedy of immense proportions. While it is deeply 
saddening, we cannot let its sheer magnitude paralyze us into 
complacency. Knowing about these deaths impassions me to do everything 
I can. We must ensure adequate support for existing and new malaria 
control tools to prevent more deaths, today, tomorrow, and into the 
future.

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