The Huffington Post: On Sunday, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia penned an op-ed on the global effort to end the spread of malaria in Africa, which causes nearly 3 million deaths each year. President Sirleaf is one of 41 African presidents that have joined together to work toward ending fatalities from malaria in their home country.
Just as deadly mosquitoes suck the blood from our children, malaria drains the lifeblood from our economies, and with it, hope and opportunity from our lives. Most adult cases of malaria don’t end in death, but they do keep entrepreneurs from their businesses, farmers from their fields, and market traders from their stalls. The disease costs Africa an estimated $12 billion a year in lost productivity.
But to understand malaria’s true impact, consider that the disease can rob individual families in poorer communities of as much as 25 percent of their disposable income. By controlling malaria we eliminate a major obstacle to sustainable economic development and stability in Africa.
Senator Chris Coons, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, visited Liberia in January as part of the official U.S. delegation attending President Sirleaf’s inauguration ceremony.
Chris has been a leader in raising awareness about malaria prevention in the Senate. Last June, the Senate unanimously adopted a bipartisan resolution honoring World Malaria Day Chris introduced with Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
Click here to read the entire op-ed in The Huffington Post.
Click here to learn more about Chris’ work on foreign relations.