It's no suprise that the candidates have to be vocal about all issues that concern the role of the US Government and given the global agenda President Bush has been pursuing (highlighting of course 2005's Presidents Malaria Initiative) the candidiates need to let the public know what their intentions are in regards to this huge financial investment. Here's what they have to say:
Senator Obama: "I have called for doubling our foreign assistance to $50 billion by 2012 to address the threat of deadly diseases like malaria along with other important issues such as global poverty, tyranny, terrorism, and proliferation of deadly weapons. I have also called for combined funding of $1.65 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria in the FY2009 appropriations bills.
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Senator Clinton: As President, Hillary will commit $1 billion per year as a major down payment to end malarial deaths in Africa. This investment, alongside U.S. commitments to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, will help spur global action to achieve universal access to treatment and preventative measures by the end of 2012.
With universal access to a set of low-cost interventions—including treatment with effective medicines, free long-lasting insecticide treated bed-nets, and indoor residual spraying where appropriate—this initiative will dramatically reduce transmission and, by the end of Hillary’s second term, stamp out deaths due to malaria altogether.
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Senator McCain: "I will establish the goal of eradicating malaria on the continent — the number one killer of African children under the age of five. In addition to saving millions of lives in the world’s poorest regions, such a campaign would do much to add luster to America’s image in the world.”
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So there you have it, candidates on both sides of the aisle are not only looking forward towards their political futures but across the ocean together, recognizing that a global health crisis exists where it should not and setting the stage for a world where deaths due to malaria will be a thing of the past.