I had the great honor earlier today to participate in the White House Summit on Malaria, an inspired gathering of business, non-profit, and government leaders committed to ending malaria — a disease that kills a child every third seconds. I was excited to see the President, Mrs. Bush, Condi Rice, Paul Wolfowitz, and so many other leaders participating in the summit. It is clear that this administration is committed to ending malaria and the President talked today about a $1.2 billion initiative over five years to provide bed nets, and indoor spraying, and anti-malaria medicine in 15 African countries.

This is a step in the right direction for the Bush administration and our country. In the end, our country will not be judged on our wealth or power alone, but on how we used that wealth and power to better our world and to honor the sanctity of life. Given the myriad of foreign policy challenges that this country is facing, this is something of a slam dunk — it’s good for the world, good for the economy (since malaria is a $12 billion burden on Africa), and good for our security. Of course, as the discussion on this blog has shown, Bush is going to need some three-pointers to restore our image in the world and find an adequate exit strategy for Iraq. Regardless, I’m glad to see the President moving forward on other fronts to save lives.

All of that said, I still came away from today’s gathering wondering if the U.S. government really is doing enough? Wolfowitz reminded the audience today that 3,000 die every day from malaria — that’s a death tool the size of 9-11 every day. But if you look at our total expenditures as a country, $1.2 billion over five years is tiny. If this is a 9-11 every day, shouldn’t we be willing to commit more?

Fortunately, there is a wonderful network of private leaders complementing the U.S. government’s efforts and showing our conscience to the world through individual philanthropy. It’s called Malaria No More and it is an organization that I believe really will live up to its name. Check it out at  http://www.malarianomore.org/ .

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