Washington, D.C., March 11, 2024 – Malaria No More CEO Martin Edlund issued the following statement upon the release of the Biden Administration’s FY25 budget request for the President’s Malaria Initiative.
Malaria No More applauds President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) budget request to Congress, which prioritizes critical funding for malaria through the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI). By requesting $795 million for PMI, President Biden has demonstrated his Administration’s commitment to the global effort to end malaria once and for all.
If approved by Congress, these funds will come at a critical time, as emerging challenges threaten the historic progress made over the past two decades. While we are deeply grateful to the President for increasing his request to $795 million for FY25, we encourage Congress to go further, as they have repeatedly in recent years, and appropriate above the President’s request. US leadership remains as crucial as ever, and with PMI’s expansion into three new countries, mounting drug resistance, the Anopheles stephensi mosquito carrying malaria into new areas, changing weather patterns, and other rising threats, the world needs the most robust possible resources for PMI.
Led by generous commitment and staunch support from the United States, malaria investments have saved 11.7 million lives and averted 2 billion cases of malaria since 2000. Yet half of the world’s population remained at risk. In 2022, there were an estimated 249 million malaria cases and malaria deaths remain above pre-pandemic levels at 608,000 in 2022.
Fighting malaria is one of the most cost-effective ways to save a human life on the planet. The tools to prevent, diagnose, and treat the disease are proven and inexpensive, and the resulting health and economic benefits are enormous.
Malaria No More strongly supports the President’s request and stands ready to work with the longstanding bipartisan coalition of malaria champions in Congress to achieve immediate and accountable results: stopping this global health threat from spreading and saving millions more lives globally on behalf of the American people.
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For more information or interview requests, please contact Mindy Mizell at mindy.mizell@malarianomore.org
About Malaria No More
Malaria No More envisions a world where no one dies from a mosquito bite. Twenty years into our mission, our work has helped drive historic progress toward this goal. Now, we’re mobilizing the political commitment, funding, and innovation required to achieve one of the greatest humanitarian accomplishments of our time — ending malaria for good.