WORLD MALARIA DAY ADDRESS, APRIL, 25TH 2018.

HOW MANY US PRESIDENTS CONTACTED MALARIA? PRESIDENT TRUMP COULD BE THE NEXT IN THE LINE?

Today, April, 25th is World Malaria Day with the theme “READY TO BEAT MALARIA”. Can you imagine taking your child to a hospital to be told that your child will die due to unsafe drinking water, no mosquito netting, or the lack of money to buy malaria medication? This sound unrealistic, but to some us, it is true. Over 85% of children in Africa die needlessly from malaria.

I am a victim of this dreaded disease, almost losing my life. Through the grace of God, I survived! Our precious 16-month-old Goodness, twin sister to Mercy was not as fortunate. She lost her battle to Malaria March 20, 2006. I decided her death would not be in vain!

Then and there I took up the fight to eradicate malaria. A fire raged so deep within me. That led to the formation of CHAMA – an acronym meaning- Challenge AIDS and Malaria in Africa click here: https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fgroups%2FCHAMAAFRICA%2F%3Fref%3Dbookmarks

With over 15,000 malaria warriors as volunteers, CHAMA is giving malaria a fight of its life, having saved over 60,000 children with over 500 surgeries free for children in need; built toilets, schools, and so on across 16 African countries. But we need to do more!

While most people today associate malaria with developing countries — and indeed, most cases do occur in sub-Saharan Africa — the disease was quite common in the U.S. in the 1800s.

More than one million cases of malaria were reported during the Civil War alone, and the disease affected people in the U.S. up until the early 1950s. In fact, nearly one-fifth of all U.S. Presidents (8 out of 45) are known to have contracted malaria, according to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. They are:

• George Washington contracted malaria at age 17 in Virginia, and while he did not die from the disease he suffered from recurring bouts throughout his life.

• Abraham Lincoln also got the disease while growing up in Illinois.

• James Monroe suffered from malaria when he visited a particularly swampy area of the Mississippi River.

• Andrew Jackson contracted malaria while on the Seminole military campaigns in Florida.

• Ulysses S. Grant suffered from frequent bouts of malaria in the late 1850s while living on a farm outside of St. Louis.

• James A. Garfield acquired malaria at age 16 in Ohio.

• Theodore Roosevelt came down with malaria after a visit to the Amazon rainforest.
• John F. Kennedy contracted the decease while in the Solomon Islands during World War II.

At least eight US. Presidents had malaria.

Join CHAMA today and let’s end malaria for good. Let’s stop malaria now before President Trump of US contracts it!

Dr. Olugu Ukpai, CEO, CHAMA