22 U.S.C. § 2151b: Assistance for malaria prevention, treatment, control, and elimination

The Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, in coordination with the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies and nongovernmental organizations, shall provide assistance for the establishment and conduct of activities designed to prevent, treat, control, and eliminate malaria in countries with a high percentage of malaria cases. In providing assistance pursuant to paragraph (1), the Administrator should consider the interaction among the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. Activities referred to in paragraph (1) shall include the dissemination of information relating to the development of vaccines and therapeutic agents for the prevention of malaria (including information relating to participation in, and the results of, clinical trials for such vaccines and agents conducted by United States Government agencies) to appropriate officials in such countries. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection (a) $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2001 and 2002. Amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations under paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available until expended. The World Health Organization estimates that there are 300,000,000 to 500,000,000 cases of malaria each year. According to the World Health Organization, more than 1,000,000 persons are estimated to die due to malaria each year. According to the National Institutes of Health, about 40 percent of the world’s population is at risk of becoming infected. About half of those who die each year from malaria are children under 9 years of age. Malaria kills one child each 30 seconds. Although malaria is a public health problem in more than 90 countries, more than 90 percent of all malaria cases are in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to Africa, large areas of Central and South America, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East are high risk malaria areas. These high risk areas represent many of the world’s poorest nations. Malaria is particularly dangerous during pregnancy. The disease causes severe anemia and is a major factor contributing to maternal deaths in malaria endemic regions. ‘Airport malaria’, the importing of malaria by international aircraft and other conveyances, is becoming more common, and the United Kingdom reported 2,364 cases of malaria in 1997, all of them imported by travelers. In the United States, of the 1,400 cases of malaria reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1998, the vast majority were imported. Between 1970 and 1997, the malaria infection rate in the United States increased by about 40 percent. Malaria is caused by a single-cell parasite that is spread to humans by mosquitoes. No vaccine is available and treatment is hampered by development of drug-resistant parasites and insecticide-resistant mosquitoes.”