Adm. Timothy Ziemer, the “Malaria Fighter,” spoke Tuesday afternoon to a group of about 150 people about his work over the last eight years leading the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative.
“I am here for Washington to give you a good news story,” Ziemer said, opening the lecture.
The former Navy pilot then spoke to the nearly full Masters Room in the Georgia Center for Continuing Education about some of the facts and statistics regarding the disease, including the fact that the vast majority of cases occur in children.
The female Anopheles mosquito, Ziemer said, is one of the most dangerous creatures in the world, according to an entomologist friend of his, because of its ability to transmit diseases.
“Growing up I was taught that the Lord didn’t create anything without a purpose,” he said. “Well, mosquitoes come pretty close.”
Ziemer said malaria is a contradictory disease.
“We know what causes it, we know how to prevent it, we know how to treat it,” he said, yet there are still an anticipated 600,000 people dying from the disease each year.
Funding for malaria in the 1990s, Ziemer said, was only at around $1 million. Former President George W. Bush increased that budget with a commitment of $1.2 billion.
Now, he said it ha been transitioned into $4 billion.
“Congress delivered every penny that President Bush and President Obama has asked for,” Ziemer said. “We had a plan, we had policies, we had ways to measure progress and with our partners we have been able to show progress.”
Progress, he said, comes with making use of lots of three main preventative measures — insecticide-treated mosquito nets, indoor residual spraying and intermittent preventative treatment for pregnant women — paired with treatment.
Since 2005, Ziemer said there has been a 40 percent drop in malaria deaths worldwide, down to around 600,000 deaths per year. Statisticians, he said, have indicated if PMI keeps dong what it is doing, a drop in all-cause mortality is expected to increase dramatically.
Declines in all-cause child mortality range from 16 percent in Malawi to 50 percent in Rwanda, he said.
“That is something to celebrate,” he said. “We take credit for some of that, but not all.”
Ziemer spoke extensively about the progress made — anything from declining need for treatments as tests are administered more frequently to six countries now having universal bed net coverage.
“When you have all the supporting mechanisms, when you have all the technical assistance and competencies… you can actually turn the corner and make significant impact in the world,” he said.
But Ziemer said PMI’s work is not done.
“If we take our foot off the throttle it is going to resurge,” he said. “We are kind of only on the 40-yard line.”
Three weeks ago the White House launched its strategy for the next six years, pushing the Malaria Initiative beyond the Obama Administration.
“I am very pleased,” Ziemer said. “We have new goals. We are going to push for an additional 30 percent reduction in morbidity… and for mortality, we want to see countries push an additional 40 percent.”
Ziemer has his sights on eradication of the disease.
Eradication, he said, involves heavy prevention and control, sustained control and research.
“One day, well beyond our six-years strategy, some countries may be closer to an elimination profile,” Ziemer said, noting there are potential fault lines ahead that could cause hang-ups in the plan.
He cited resistance by mosquitoes and parasites, lack of sustained funding, lack of political support and awareness and poor quality or counterfeit drugs as potential problems down the line. On the bright side, Ziemer said all of the PMI countries are conducting entomological monitoring.
Looking forward, Ziemer said 3 billion people are still at risk and malaria remains a major killer in Sub-Saharan Africa. He said the key is to stick to the basics of heavy prevention, diagnosis and treatment and aggressive research.
“If we take our eye off the ball,” he said. “If we lose any of the traction there are other folk that are going to jump on the bandwagon and ruin our day.”
Ziemer closed the lecture saying the progress made in the last near-decade is good news, and that anyone can make a difference if the right things fall into place. The floor was then opened up to questions and comments from the audience.
“I think it went very well. It was informative, it was well received. The questions were good,” said Bill Cheesborough, director of finance and administration at the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.
Head of the Animal and Dairy Science Department Keith Bertrand said he came to the lecture because he is interested in what is going on worldwide, and believes agriculture has an important role to play.
“I think it went well,” he said. “It was very interesting.”