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July 1, 2005
40% of a Fight Against Malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa
Since I complained before, it is hard not to welcome Presidents Bush's pledge to provide additional funds to fight malaria in Africa.
President Bush, under pressure to provide more help to Africa ahead of a G8 summit next week, pledged on Thursday to provide $1.2 billion through 2008 to help combat malaria in sub-Saharan Africa as part of what he called an eventual doubling of U.S. aid. [Reuters]
$1.2 billion over the next three years is a lot, right? Wrong!
Jeffrey D. Sachs of Columbia University spelled out the need three weeks ago,
Consider one example. Malaria will kill up to 3 million children this year, overwhelming Africa's meager hospitals. Yet five measures could end this: long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets (cost: $7 per net); effective medications freely available to the poor; community health workers trained in malaria control; medical diagnostic capacity at the local level; and indoor insecticide spraying where appropriate. The cost: $3 billion a year for the industrialized countries, $1 billion for the U.S. — about 10 times what's currently spent on malaria control.
Sachs estimates the US share at $1 billion a year and Bush is offering $400 million a year. And since there is no funding proposal to back up the pledge, it will, at least in the first year, take money away from existing aid to Africa. It is a start but we could and should do a lot more.
Posted by Duane Smith at July 1, 2005 9:25 AM | Read more on Current Events |
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