Former US President plans to expand malaria fight in Haiti

Former United States President Jimmy Carter has announced plans to expand a US$200,000 pilot project in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to curb the spread of malaria, according to a report on www.cananews.net.



\"One of the most important developments has been the new cooperation between the two countries,\" said Carter while touring a Haitian hospital that treats many malaria victims on Wednesday.



\"And, for the first time in history, they are targeting the complete elimination of the disease, instead of just treating sick people,\" he added.



Carter said he was determined to travel to \"the most distant and small and isolated and poverty-stricken villages in the deserts, in the jungles and in the poorest countries on earth\" to wipe out diseases that have long been distant memories in richer countries.



He noted that the pilot project, established by his nonprofit Carter Center, has helped curb the spread of the disease in two towns about 10 miles apart on opposite sides of the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.



Carter said his programme has funded nets treated with insecticide for residents to use, microscopes for lab technicians and motorbikes for field workers.



He said his Center\'s goal is to remove the last vestiges of malaria, a disease that causes high fevers and flu-like symptoms and kills more than one million people each year, mostly in Africa.



Haitian health officials say a 10-year, Haiti-wide programme to eliminate malaria by 2020 would likely cost US$200 million.



Another $50 million would be needed to wipe out lymphatic filariasis, another painful illness carried by mosquitoes that can swell limbs to grotesque proportions.