Bush Tackles Challenge of Malaria

President Bush, right, first lady Laura Bush, second from right, and others, "dance" with the Kankouran West African Dance Company, not shown, during a Malaria Awareness Day, event, Wednesday, April 25, 2007, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Manuel Balce Ceneta - AP)

The president said the cooperation with Uganda is being expanded to hand out 500,000 nets there as well, an effort he said will mean that eventually half of all Ugandan households will have a net.

Also through the U.S. initiative, bed nets will be distributed to nearly 1.4 million children under 5, a campaign that will also include polio vaccines, Bush said.

The president said more than 11 million people in Africa have benefited so far after two years of the anti-malaria initiative, and that number should reach 30 million by the end of 2007 budget year, this September.

He said that during the Group of Eight summit of industrialized nations in Germany in June, he planned to push other countries to commit significant resources to fighting malaria.

"The United States will lead, and we expect others to follow side-by-side," Bush said.

He ended the event on a much less-severe note.

After a few songs from the colorfully and traditionally dressed KanKouran West African Dance Company, the president and first lady joined the dancers and drummers on stage for a picture.

In no time, it was Bush who was enthusiastically choreographing the moves. Flashing a big grin, Bush pounded on the drums to set the rhythm and led the women and men of the group in a little dance.