April 25, 2008 Bush, in Connecticut, pledges fight against malaria Play video

(NECN: Hartford, Conn.) - President Bush acknowledged the efforts of Connecticut Boys and Girls Clubs to address a worldwide killer. The President visited Hartford Friday on Malaria Awareness Day to recognize that the clubs have raised $25,000 to buy more than 2,500 bed nets for families in Africa, to protect against the mosquito-borne illnees.

With bake sales, car washes and school dances, Bush said U.S. citizens are responding to the worldwide battle to fight the disease, which kills more than a million infants and young children in sub-Saharan Africa each year.

The President also highlighted his own malaria initiatives, spending $1.2 billion over the next five years to fight the disease, and his own connections to the Nutmeg State.

"The Boys and Girls Clubs were born here, and so was I," Bush noted to applause. "The Boys and Girls Clubs are 102," he added, "and my daughters think that I act like I'm 102 sometimes."