Click to play videoNew Delhi: Washington saw an unusual sight recently. US President George Bush and his wife Laura Bush danced with African drummers and dancers as part of a campaign to spread awareness about malaria.
The President and First Lady's initiative resulted in the US marking the first ever Malaria Awareness Day.
The President's Malaria Initiative and the 'Malaria no More' organisation announced on Wednesday that they will be distributing more than half-a-million mosquito treated bed nets in Africa.
"On this special day, we renew our commitment to lead the world toward an urgent goal, and that is to turn the tide against malaria in Africa, and around the globe,'' the President was quoted by news agency Associated Press as saying.
More than 1 million people die each year from malaria. The mosquito-borne disease is the leading cause of death of African children under the age of five. Tens of millions of people suffer chronically from the illness.
Yet, Bush said, the debilitating, deadly disease is both preventable and curable. That requires distributing insecticide-treated bed nets, expanding insecticide spraying, providing anti-malaria medicine to pregnant women and delivering cutting-edge drugs to people with the disease.
''Defeating malaria is going to be a challenge, but it's not going to require a miracle,'' he was further quoted as saying.
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