At Nothing But Nets Summit, The White House Announces Increased Funding, Expansion of the President’s Malaria Initiative to Help Defeat Malaria

Today, at the United Nations Foundation’s Nothing But Nets Champion Summit, President Obama’s National Security Advisor, Ambassador Susan Rice, announced the Administration’s plans to leverage increased malaria funding by expanding the President’s Malaria Initiative’s (PMI) work in six countries. The announcement came in front of more than 125 youth and advocates from 26 states who have convened in Washington, D.C. to learn the necessary skills to become the next generation of grassroots leaders in the fight to defeat malaria.

“Beating diseases like malaria is not only the right thing to do, it is also the smart thing to do – for our common security,” said Ambassador Rice.

Recently in his final State of the Union address, President Barack Obama called to end the scourge of malaria and urged Congress to increase funding. President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Request called for $874 million for PMI, a $200 million increase, and $1.35 billion in vital funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.