Athens, Ga. – Rear Adm. R. Timothy Ziemer oversaw the reduction of worldwide malaria deaths by 40 percent over the last decade as the U.S. global malaria coordinator. He will speak on the malaria fight April 14 at 4 p.m. in Masters Hall of the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education.
Ziemer has been called one of the most quietly successful leaders in public health for his efforts in leading the President’s Malaria Initiative, an effort to combat malaria worldwide led by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He will share the lessons he has learned and plans for the future with his lecture on “President’s Malaria Initiative: the U.S. Government’s Commitment to the Global Malaria Fight.”
“Public health and agriculture are inextricable disciplines,” said J. Scott Angle, dean of the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “The fight against malaria is just one of the many crossroads.
“A healthy world begins with a sustainable environment and a nutritious food supply. Promoting agricultural practices that include effective pest management and controlling insect vectors that spread disease is a vital juncture at which we must all work together to promote worldwide health improvement.”
The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the College of Public Health and the Georgia Regents University/UGA Medical Partnership are hosting the lecture.
Since taking the helm of the President’s Malaria Initiative in 2006, Ziemer has worked to align the efforts of aid groups focused on ending malaria. He has insisted on accountability for outreach funding and helped reduce the impact of a disease that sickens almost 200 million people annually and kills between 500,000 and 600,000 a year, according to the World Health Organization.
The President’s Malaria Initiative works in 19 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in the Greater Mekong Subregion, which includes Cambodia, southern China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The agency coordinates medical care, mosquito net distribution and pest management strategies in the countries where it works.
Before his appointment as U.S. global malaria coordinator, Ziemer retired from the U.S. Navy and later as executive director of World Relief, a humanitarian organization.
Born in Iowa, Ziemer was raised by missionary parents in Vietnam. He joined the U.S. Navy after graduating from Wheaton College and became a pilot.
For more information about the lecture, contact Candy Sears at 706-542-3924. For more information on the President’s Malaria Initiative, see http://www.pmi.gov/home.
Ziemer’s talk is a part of the CAES Spring Showcase, a celebration of agricultural and environmental sciences on UGA’s Athens campus. For more information, visit http://caes.uga.edu/students/events/spring-showcase.cfm.
