April 25 is World Malaria Day, a time to raise awareness, rally support, and remember those lost to the disease. As the world works to\u00a0eliminate\u00a0malaria as a global health threat by 2030, we must look forward to the advancements that will get us there, while also reflecting on the ambitious actions that made\u00a0this progress\u00a0a possibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Malaria 101\u00a0<\/p>\n
Malaria is spread through mosquitoes that thrive in warm, tropical climates. The disease is prevented through low-cost interventions like insecticides and\u00a0insecticide-treated\u00a0bed nets<\/a>\u00a0and antimalarial drugs. For the first time in history, there are several advancements that make ending malaria in our lifetime a possibility, including a new malaria vaccine.\u00a0Thanks\u00a0to these interventions,\u00a0forty-seven countries<\/a>\u00a0have been certified malaria-free by the World Health Organization.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although the disease is treatable and preventable, malaria\u00a0remains\u00a0one of the world\u2019s most common and serious tropical diseases. About half of the world\u2019s population is at risk of being infected, and the majority of those who die from the disease are young children and pregnant women in resource-poor regions. In 2024, there were approximately\u00a0282 million cases<\/a>\u00a0of malaria and 610,000 deaths. Much like HIV\/AIDS, the malaria burden is highest in sub-Saharan Africa.\u00a0<\/p>\n The President\u2019s Malaria Initiative (PMI)\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the greatest efforts to end malaria came from the launch of the\u00a0President\u2019s Malaria Initiative (PMI) by President George W. Bush in 2005<\/a>. Much like the President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) launched just two years earlier, which has saved more than 26 million lives, PMI sought to use a whole-of-government approach to save lives from malaria, increase productivity, and expand economic opportunity. PMI has\u00a0workedin\u00a030 countries<\/a>\u00a0with the highest burden of malaria, 27 of which\u00a0are located in\u00a0sub-Saharan Africa.\u00a0<\/p>\n Several U.S. government agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Peace Corps, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of War, and the Department of State, implement the program. PMI also works closely with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria to ensure those most in need have access to lifesaving prevention and treatment resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n Together with other organizations and country-led initiatives, PMI has committed to the globally agreed-upon\u00a0goals<\/a>\u00a0to end malaria as a threat by 2030. This includes the reduction of global malaria mortality and cases by 90% compared to 2015 levels, the elimination of malaria in at least 35 more countries, and the prevention of the resurgence of malaria in countries that have been certified as \u201cmalaria-free.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Today, PMI and the Global\u00a0Fund \u00a0have\u00a0contributed to the\u00a014 million lives<\/a>\u00a0saved from malaria and\u00a02.3 billion malaria cases<\/a>\u00a0prevented across the globe over the last two decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n PMI and Malaria under the America First Global Health Strategy\u00a0<\/p>\n The America First Global Health strategy recommits to PMI\u2019s\u00a0objectives. Much like HIV\/AIDS programming, the strategy\u00a0emphasizes a goal<\/a>\u00a0to transition U.S.-financed anti-malaria programming to national governments by 2030. Several bilateral health agreements (or MOUs) have already been signed in PMI partner countries. As of April 6, 2026,\u00a029 agreements<\/a>\u00a0have been signed in countries throughout Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia. Of those 29,\u00a019 agreements<\/a>\u00a0include malaria funding and interventions.\u00a0<\/p>\n What\u2019s Next?\u00a0<\/p>\n The inclusion of malaria in the America First Global Health Strategy is a positive step. However, there are several key aspects that must be kept in mind to ensure the strategy\u2019s success. In a report released earlier this year,\u00a0Malaria No More and partners outlined several recommendations<\/a>\u00a0to support a successful implementation of the strategy for malaria.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n This includes principles that are critical across disease areas, including ensuring trustworthy mechanisms for integrity, monitoring, and accountability are in place; unlocking domestic financing; harnessing private sector innovation;\u00a0facilitating\u00a0global partnerships; and strengthening human and institutional capacity. The George W. Bush Institute\u2019s recent piece,\u00a0One System, Greater Impact<\/a>, also emphasizes the need to protect hard-won gains while integrating malaria into broader primary health care.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2005,\u00a0President Bush asked<\/a>\u00a0the American public to continue to answer the call to take on the challenge of hunger, poverty, and disease that had started under PEPFAR. President and Mrs. Bush put those words into action, launching PMI and hosting the first-ever\u00a0White House Summit on Malaria<\/a>. The event brought together experts, the private-sector, civil society leaders, faith-based organizations, and policy makers to raise awareness around malaria and mobilize efforts to save lives.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n That whole-of-society approach\u00a0definedPMI\u2019s\u00a0planning, implementation, and oversight for over 20 years. The political will, partnerships, and innovation that launched a moonshot program are just as critical as we near the finish line today.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"April 25 is World Malaria Day, a time to raise awareness, rally support, and remember those lost to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[134,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-390977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}