Malaria No More Policy Center Managing Director Mark Green released a statement on President Barack Obama’s budget blueprint and its implications for the fight against malaria.

Green states:

The President’s objectives demonstrate ongoing support for the Malaria Initiative and Admiral Timothy Ziemer. This sustained commitment to fighting this deadly disease reaffirms the Administration’s confidence in the proven methods we have been utilizing to fight malaria.

Read the full statement here.

Last week marked the one-year anniversary of the appointment of MNM co-founder Ray Chambers as the Secretary-General’s first Special Envoy for Malaria.

The Special Envoy released a progress report on this occasion, revealing several key indicators of progress:

• More than 40 percent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa now has access to insecticide-treated mosquito nets, compared to less than 10 percent in 2005.
• More than 140 million bed nets have been distributed to date, offering protection to nearly 300 million people.
• There are already several accounts of rapid intervention-induced declines in malaria deaths in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe and other countries.

With a solid year of historic wins behind him, Mr. Chambers is focused on the 22 months ahead. He emphasizes, “At this unique moment in history, when dedicated leadership, proven interventions, available resources and collective will have converged to turn the tide against this scourge, we cannot permit complacency to dull our resolve.”

With Mr. Chambers’ untiring leadership and optimism, the global community is daily approaching what was previously thought impossible- achieving universal freedom from malaria deaths.

Malaria No More Chairman Peter Chernin announced earlier this week that he is stepping down as President and COO of News Corporation. Luckily for us and for all members of the malaria community, Peter is more committed than ever to Malaria No More and the global effort to end malaria deaths.

Peter will remain an active and involved Chairman of the Board of Directors of Malaria No More and will continue to serve as a strong and committed advocate of malaria control efforts, using his industry skills and business acumen to shine a spotlight on the fight against malaria. Peter will also continue as co-chair of the Malaria Capital Campaign, a project to raise $100 million from the private sector to help provide everyone at risk in Africa with anti-malaria tools by the end of 2010—the first critical step to ending the nearly one million annual deaths from this preventable, deadly disease.

We’re looking forward to working with Peter in the months and years ahead to achieve our goal of ending malaria deaths and making Malaria No More for once and for all.

Scott Case is CEO and Vice Chairman of Malaria No More.

A man was arrested this past weekend for breaking into the Nevada City School of the Arts and stealing $3,000—some of which were funds that students raised to send life-saving mosquito nets to Africa with Malaria No More!

Undaunted, the school’s students held a bake sale on Monday to recoup their losses and make up for the missing bed net funds. Malaria No More salutes the students of Nevada City School of the Arts, who prove that determination and dedication are two of the most important elements in the fight against malaria.

Shame on the infamous Bed Net Burglar! Maybe we should ask Bill Gates to unleash some mosquitoes on this guy?

Mark Green, Managing Director of the Malaria No More Policy Center, hosted a staff briefing on Capitol Hill to discuss success stories in the fight against malaria, the role of the U.S. government in the global effort against the disease and the need to build on the current momentum to end malaria deaths. As former U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania, a four-term Congressman from Wisconsin and a malaria survivor, Green encouraged staff and members of Congress to join the malaria community as it’s fighting—and winning—the battle against malaria.

Green was joined by Admiral Timothy Ziemer of the President’s Malaria Initiative, Natasha Bilimoria with Friends of the Global Fight and Matt Lynch of Johns Hopkins University.

Check out video of the Capitol Hill Briefing here.

The Malaria No More Policy Center is working to raise awareness and galvanize support to address the global fight against malaria, with specific focus on engaging policy leaders in the United States and the other G-8 nations in advancing efforts to defeat malaria worldwide.

A short piece by the New York Times Editorial Board in today’s copy of the newspaper, entitled “Boosting Global AIDS Funds”, discusses the possibility of slashed funding for international health programs and U.S. funding for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

While AIDS makes up the bulk of the funding, the bill in question also authorized $5 billion over five years for malaria. Authorization of these funds is a crucial component in the effort to achieve the goals set forth in the Global Malaria Action Plan. Despite the current economic crisis, fighting malaria is the best investment the world can make today, offering remarkable humanitarian and economic dividends.

The authors state: We recognize that the new administration is searching for ways to stimulate the domestic economy and slow the erosion of jobs. But there are strong arguments — moral and strategic — for why the United States should do a lot more to help fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis around the world.

The new budget is expected to be released this week. Malaria No More, along with the rest of the global health community, will be watching. Will you?

I think I have hit my knees at least three times today on this desk. It’s a borrowed desk, in a borrowed office, but we promise to not let such things keeps us form working hard to promote policy that strives to end malaria deaths.

The “w”are Ambassador Mark Green, a Policy Assistant, Ben who spends his free time in Thai Boxing rings (which should come in handy for the “fight” against malaria) and myself. We make up the Malaria No More Policy Center in Washington, DC, the only advocacy shop focused solely on malaria.

Over the next several months we will be building our new website, a virtual home for the policy center, and building upon our relationships in Washington to see that the fight against malaria is well funded and that Americans understand the success of programs in place today.

We think the effort, powered by Malaria No More, is going to make a difference. Next time someone tells you that the malaria community needs more voices in Washington, tell them we’ve added an Ambassador, a communicator and a Thai fighter to the anti-malaria team.

Jonathan is the new Communications Director for the Malaria Policy Center and he tries not to cross his Thai boxing coworker.

On Saturday, February 14, Malaria No More kicked-off the distribution of 32,000 long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets in Okavango district, Botswana in partnership with the Clinton Foundation. This is a pilot program using IRS spray teams to cover all people in the district with nets. Botswana will be looking to the success of this program to guide their national planning for achieving universal coverage across the country and MNM is proud to help with an important first step.

Malaria No More provided the nets and covered associated costs with funds provided by our generous donors, including our marathon runners, the Select Equity Group Foundation and the Marin Jewish Community Teen Foundation.

Thanks for helping us get nets out into the field and make a difference on the front lines of the fight against malaria!

Unloading nets in Okavango

This weekend, Malaria No More launched the distribution of 32,000 long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) to Botswana households in Okavango district with and Clinton Foundation as our implementing partner.

This pilot campaign deploys indoor residual spraying (IRS) teams to deliver nets—utilizing existing infrastructure to provide a new model for LLIN distribution.

Anthony Woods, the State Department’s Regional Environment and Health Officer for Southern Africa, was on hadn to provide some remarks on behalf of Malaria No More:

“The distribution commemorates the launch of an ambitious and critical public health project.  Ambitious, because it aims to improve the ownership and usage of long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets from the current 10% of Okavango households to over 80%.  Critical, because such “universal coverage” of the population with LLINs is one of the most effective tools we have to reduce and eventually eliminate the burden of malaria from Okavango.”

Look out malaria: Here come the Girl Scouts!

The Girl Scouts of Central California South are celebrating their annual World Thinking Day by fighting malaria! The Scouts are joining with the global community to raise awareness about the disease, raise funds for life-saving mosquito nets and earn their malaria badge!

World Thinking Day 2009 will help Malaria No More provide nets to Africans in need—showing that every Girl Scout can “be prepared” to save a life.