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U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov
(202) 712-43202002-043
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2002Contact: USAID Press Office
United Nations - The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced plans to expand its successful NETMARK program to help control malaria in Africa. Expansion is scheduled to occur in several African countries, including possibly Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Ethiopia, Uganda and Malawi.
NETMARK works in partnership with the commercial sector to expand the sale of insecticide-treated netting. Experts believe that sleeping under a simple bednet treated with insecticide could reduce deaths from malaria by 25 percent.
Dr. Anne Peterson, Assistant Administrator for Global Health at USAID, announced this expanded effort today at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGASS) Special Session on Children. "We hope that this successful cooperation with the commercial sector for insecticide-treated netting will serve as a model for future cooperation with the commercial sector in other parts of the world and with other health related products," said Dr. Peterson.
Dr. Peterson made this announcement at the Reducing the Impact of Malaria on Child Health panel discussion. Also participating in the panel were President Obasanjo of Nigeria; Betty Mpeka, Uganda Ministry of Health; Salim Abdullah, Ifakara Center for Health and Development Studies, Tanzania, and David Alwick, Director, Roll Back Malaria, a global initiative to prevent the transmission of malaria.
To date, USAID has mobilized the commercial sector to invest in development of insecticide-treated bednets markets in Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Zambia.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.
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