“Rallying the World” to Defeat Malaria

The beginning of the end for a scourge that has plagued humanity for millennia

Indoor Residual Spraying protects millions of people in Africa from malaria by spraying insecticide on inside walls and ceilings to kill mosquitoes that transmit the disease. With President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) support, more than 18 million people in Africa have been protected through indoor residual spraying. / Jessica Scranton

This map from the collection of The College of Physicians Historical Medical Library shows deaths from typhoid fever and malaria in Washington, D.C. between 1888 and 1892. / Photo courtesy of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Did you know at least eight U.S. presidents are believed to have contracted malaria during their lifetime? Or that even as late as the 1930s, the U.S. recorded millions of malaria cases within its borders?

Yet by 1951, the spread of malaria was halted in the United States.

If we can do it here, we can do the same around the world.

In President Obama’s final State of the Union address, he defined American leadership as “rallying the world behind causes that are right.”

“We are on track to end the scourge of HIV/AIDS — that’s within our grasp,” President Obama said in his speech on Jan. 12. “And we have the chance to accomplish the same thing with malaria. … That’s American strength. That’s American leadership. And that kind of leadership depends on the power of our example.”

These global health goals are no longer deemed too ambitious or too complex. And that’s because we’ve done it before.

The story of U.S. leadership in the fight against infectious diseases is one of immense success and progress. From smallpox, measles, Guinea worm and polio, to malaria and Ebola, our determination, grit and know-how have helped eliminate or push many killers to the brink of extinction.

Although we’ve exceeded our ambitious malaria goals in the last decade under the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative, we still have a long way to go. Malaria continues to cause unacceptable levels of death and suffering. In Africa, a child dies every minute because of the disease.

Use of insecticide-treated nets among children under 5 increased from a median of 18 percent to 46 percent since the launch of the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative. / PSI Kenya

While an earlier global eradication effort in the 1950s and 60s dramatically decreased malaria deaths in some countries, the disease persisted stubbornly.

A renewed effort began in earnest at the dawn of the third millennium. First came the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. And then President Bush launched the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI).

Together with partner countries, under national malaria control program leadership, and with partners and stakeholders, we have scaled up life-saving interventions in communities across some of the world’s highest burden countries. More than 6 million lives have been saved, and a vast majority of them have been young, African children.

We have helped loosen malaria’s grip — even in areas where it was tightest.

Eradicating malaria would rank among humanity’s greatest achievements.

It disproportionately affects the poor — particularly pregnant women and children in Africa — and traps families in a vicious cycle of disease and poverty. And where malaria flourishes, access to routine health care is often beyond reach. Many people, especially the poor in isolated rural areas, must walk for miles to seek treatment.

Habiba Suleiman, 29, a district malaria surveillance officer in Tanzania, visits Sofia Samuel and her family to re-test and treat them for malaria. Sofia’s family has had bouts of malaria, but thanks to early intervention and treatment, they are recovering. With technology supported by USAID, Habiba can quickly test, treat and monitor the household. Read more of her story on USAID’s storytelling hub. / Morgana Wingard, USAID

The tenacity of malaria means we must develop new tools to stay ahead of an evolving parasite that is already showing signs of resistance to malaria medicines in the Mekong region of Asia, and widespread resistance to insecticides.

These challenges have the potential to even reverse the gains that have been achieved to date. In several places where malaria had been on the brink of extinction in the previous eradication effort, the disease came roaring back.

We must ensure political commitment and predictable financial resources necessary to carry us over the finish line.

U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator Rear Adm. Tim Ziemer hands out long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets — a key malaria prevention tool. In sub-Saharan Africa, more than half of the population is now sleeping under these nets, compared to just 2 percent in 2000. / John Bompengo

Each time I travel, I am humbled and inspired to meet with the people and listen as they talk about the impact we are making on their lives.

In a piece in the Washington Post, Michael Gerson wrote, “In much of sub-Saharan Africa, the American image is now defined by Peace Corps, by PMI and by PEPFAR. It is a form of influence that is hard to measure or weigh. But people remember when you help to save their children.”

It is true. And for me, there is no greater joy than knowing children, mothers and communities are thriving because malaria is no longer ravaging families, villages and communities.

About the Author

Rear Admiral (retired) Tim Ziemer leads the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), a historic U.S. Government initiative to reduce the burden of malaria and help relieve poverty in Africa. Appointed in June 2006, Rear Admiral Ziemer has served as the U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator for the past eight years, leading the initiative across two administrations.