Unique Coalition Saves Lives in Zambia: President Bush’s Malaria, HIV/AIDS Initiatives, Global Business Coalition, Community Groups Join Forces to Battle Malaria

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 25, 2007
USAID Press Office: 202-712-4320
Jennifer Peterson, Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator: 202-663-2708

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As a follow-up to the 2006 White House Summit on Malaria, today marks the launch of a public-private partnership between the U.S. Government (USG) and the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GBC) to distribute more than 500,000 long-lasting insecticide-treated nets to some of the most vulnerable households in Zambia. Through the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the American people have joined with the GBC and the Zambian Government to provide protection against malaria for approximately 1 million Zambians with these nets.

This partnership will address critical linkages between malaria and HIV/AIDS in Zambia, which has among the highest prevalence in the world for both diseases. Malaria prevalence in Zambia has tripled over the past three decades. In a population of 10.2 million, there are up to 4 million clinical cases of malaria, accounting for 40 percent of outpatient visits and admissions to health care facilities, and as many as 50,000 deaths per year. People living with HIV/AIDS are extremely vulnerable to malaria, and face an increased likelihood of death and debilitating illness. In 2005, an estimated 1.1 million adults and children were living with HIV in Zambia. An estimated 98,000 adults and children died from AIDS, leaving behind a growing number of AIDS orphans, currently estimated at 710,000.

The partnership will build on an existing HIV/AIDS platform, RAPIDS (Reaching HIV-Affected People with Integrated Development and Support), a consortium of six organizations that provides an integrated package of community-based prevention, treatment and care support to orphans and vulnerable children and people living with HIV/AIDS in all nine provinces of Zambia. Consortium members include World Vision, Africare, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, the Salvation Army Zambia, and the Expanded Church Response. RAPIDS reaches more than 154,000 Zambian households through its network of 12,000 volunteer Zambian caregivers.

RAPIDS will use its established network of caregivers and household approach to distribute and follow up on the long-lasting insecticide-treated nets. Through this partnership, all nets will be distributed before November – the beginning of the malaria season in Zambia. The RAPIDS home-based care program also will provide personal weekly or biweekly follow-up to check on the health of each patient and ensure the nets are being used properly.

“Bednets are key for people living with HIV/AIDS in malaria endemic zones,” said U.S. Malaria Coordinator, Rear Adm. (RET) R. Tim Ziemer. “This partnership is the gold standard on how the public and private sectors can come together with groups delivering life-saving assistance in communities in Africa to save lives.”

“Because of high prevalence and substantial geographic overlap of malaria and HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS and malaria programs must work together in the field,” said Ambassador Mark Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. “We will continue leveraging resources to support host countries in confronting both HIV and malaria.”

Seventeen members of the GBC have contributed through the partnership, including: Abbott; Anglo American; Becton, Dickinson & Co.; Chevron Corporation; The Coca-Cola Company; Hedge Funds vs. Malaria; Helen Bader Foundation; Johnson & Johnson; Malaria No More; The Mercury Foundation; the National Basketball Association (NBA); The Noel Group; Premier Medical Corporation; Qingdao Double Butterfly Group; Tata Iron & Steel Co., Ltd.; Total; and Vestergaard-Frandsen.

“This landmark initiative represents an ideal collaboration model between private corporations, government, and NGOs,” said Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, President & CEO of the GBC. “The public-private partnership between GBC member companies, PEPFAR, PMI and the RAPIDS consortium facilitates Zambia’s economic and social development. Bednet distribution is a significant first step in demonstrating our combined will to eradicate malaria once and for all.”

"The contribution of these nets by the U. S. Government and corporate partners equips the RAPIDS consortium and the Zambian government to reach the most vulnerable orphan children and chronically ill adults, who are affected by both malaria and HIV/AIDS," said Bruce Wilkinson, chief of RAPIDS project in Zambia. “These bednets will reach more than 154,000 households in all nine provinces, or 10% of all Zambians."

In Zambia, the U.S. Government is on the front lines of the battle against malaria and HIV/AIDS. Zambia is one of PEPFAR’s 15 focus countries, and President Bush named Zambia a PMI focus country in December 2006, during the White House Summit on Malaria. PMI and PEPFAR work closely together on this and other projects to ensure that USG resources for malaria and HIV/AIDS are used in the most effective and efficient manner possible. The USG remains committed to working with country governments, the private sector, and community- and faith-based organizations, and will remain a partner with host nations in the fight against malaria and HIV/AIDS.