[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 10105]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           WORLD MALARIA DAY

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 57, S. Con. Res. 15.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the concurrent 
resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (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.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the DeMint amendment to the 
concurrent resolution be agreed to, the concurrent resolution, as 
amended, be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to 
reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or 
debate, and any statements relating to the concurrent resolution be 
printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 519) was agreed to, as follows:

       On page 4, strike line 19 and all that follows through ``by 
     the United States'' on page 5, line 25 and insert the 
     following:
       (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);
       (6) supports continued leadership by the United States

  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 15), as amended, was agreed 
to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, as amended, with its preamble, reads as 
follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 15

       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) 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);
       (6) supports continued leadership 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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