NEWS RELEASE

Ugandan Ambassador Marks Malaria Awareness Day

(WASHINGTON, April 25, 2007) --- In a speech delivered today in the Rose Garden of the White House to mark Malaria Awareness Day, President George W. Bush announced that, as part of the President’s Malaria Initiative, “America will expand our cooperation with the government of Uganda, and the non-profit group Malaria No More, to distribute more than a half-a-million bed nets in Uganda. We're going to focus this distribution on children and pregnant mothers in areas of the country with the greatest vulnerability. And when we're finished with this effort, half of all the households in Uganda will own a bed net to protect against malaria.”

The Ugandan Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Perezi Kamunanwire, attended the Rose Garden ceremony and expressed his appreciation for the President’s announcement.

“Malaria is far too common in Africa today, but that does not mean it will be a permanent condition,” said Ambassador Kamunanwire, who added this historical note:

“Many would be surprised to learn that malaria was once a major threat to public health in the United States, as well. The settlers at Jamestown in 1607 – arriving four hundred years ago next month – were devastated by a malaria epidemic. Malaria killed hundreds of thousands of Americans before a combination of better hygiene, cleaner water resources, and education eradicated it in the early 20th century.”

Uganda, he said, “is similarly dedicated to the elimination of malaria, a goal that is attainable in our lifetimes. We know what must be done; what we need are the resources to do it.”

The Ministry of Health in Uganda is already actively engaged in fighting malaria. Malaria vector control methods being used by the Ministry include:

-- Environmental management control methods (destruction/alteration of mosquito breeding sites) -- Chemical control methods (larviciding, residual insecticide indoor spraying and space spraying) -- Biological control (larvivorous fish and bio-larvicides) and -- Personal protective measures.

Among the malaria preventive measures, insecticide-treated materials (ITMs) are the most cost-effective and sustainable community-based malaria vector control method.

“With assistance from the United States government and other sources,” Ambassador Kamunanwire said, “Uganda will be better able to follow through on time-tested methods for combating malaria. Bringing this issue to the attention of the world through Malaria Awareness Day is simply the first step.”

For more information about Uganda’s efforts against malaria, visit the Ministry of Health web site at http://www.health.go.ug/index.htm.