Statement by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on World Malaria Day

Susan E. Rice
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations 
U.S. Mission to the United Nations 

New York, NY

April 25, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Malaria is preventable. Yet each day, it kills about 3,000 people, mostly children, placing an intolerable burden on families and straining economies and fragile public health systems. On this World Malaria Day, we renew our commitment to eradicating this devastating disease.

President Obama has made ending deaths from malaria a U.S. priority, and our investments in simple measures like insecticide-treated bednets have led to extraordinary impacts. In focus countries of the President’s Malaria Initiative (www.fightingmalaria.gov), for example, child mortality has dropped by as much as 36 percent. And partnerships between governments, foundations, and international organizations are building capacity to save lives.

I salute all those doing the vital work to bring the unnecessary plague of malaria to an end.

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