Washington, D.C.--Congressman Eliot Engel recently toured the Novartis plant located in the Village of Suffern, part of Rep. Engel’s district in Rockland County, where 430 people are currently employed.

Rep. Engel is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the Congressional Malaria Caucus. Novartis is the manufacturer of Coartem, an Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) indicated for the treatment of malaria. According to the World Health Organization there are at least 2.3 billion people at risk for malaria and that between 300 and 500 million persons are currently infected.

“One woman working at the Suffern plant said she personally packaged 100,000 doses of Coartem, which will in turn save thousands of children’s lives worldwide. And that was only one woman on the line. I commend Suffern Novartis employees for the fine work they do contributing to the fight against malaria world wide,” said Rep. Engel.