President George W Bush has said the US will help provide 5,2 million mosquito nets to Tanzania as part of a broader campaign to tackle malaria in sub-Saharan Africa.
Mr Bush announced the plan during a visit to a hospital in Arusha, northern Tanzania, where he is on the second leg of a tour of five African countries, BBC online reports Monday.
He said it would provide free nets within six months for every Tanzanian child aged one to five.
Malaria is the main cause of death for children in Africa, killing a child every 30 seconds, the UN says. The US, Tanzania and the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria will distribute the nets.
– This is one of the simplest technologies imaginable, but it is also one of the most effective, Mr Bush said after visiting the Meru District Hospital. – It is unacceptable to people here in Africa, who see their families devastated and their economies crippled, he noted.
In Tanzania alone, malaria kills roughly 100.000 people a year.
President Bush toured almost all wards of the hospital where women hugged him. He chatted with pregnant women receiving vouchers for bed nets and children waiting to be tested and treated for malaria, the leading Tanzanian newspaper, “Daily News”, reported.
After his remarks, the president and his wife, Laura Bush, distributed several US-funded bed nets treated with insecticide to women waiting on benches.
Earlier, Mr Bush, First Lady Laura and the US delegation landed at the Kilimanjaro International Airport in sight of Mount Kilimanjaro, to be greeted by traditional dances including performances by Maasai women dancers who wore purple robes and white discs around their necks.
As the visiting presidents motorcade made the long drive from the airport to the hospital and onwards to Arusha municipality, it passed through several villages where hundreds of residents lined the road.
At one point, flowers had been strewn in the street before the car of the president, who is popular here for the help his administration is providing to battle disease.
The US leader also visited the Maasai Girls Secondary School and A to Z Textiles Factory. The factory is the first in Africa to manufacture long-lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets (ITNs) through a partnership between Japan-based Sumitomo Chemicals, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and other organizsations.
In 2005 President Bush launched a 1,2 biilion US dollar five-year campaign to lower malaria deaths in Africa. One in every five childhood deaths in Africa is due to the effects of the disease, according to the World Health Organization.
The White House says foreign aid to Africa doubled during President Bush first term and will nearly double again, to 8,7 billion dollar a year by 2010, if his budget proposals are adopted.
The 698 million dollar aid-agreement he signed Sunday for Tanzania is the largest grant awarded so far by the Millennium Challenge Corporation, established to assist countries that embrace democracy and fight corruption.
