By Tina Vilca.

I know the importance of protecting vulnerable populations from malaria firsthand, particularly pregnant mothers, children under the age of five, and refugees. As a United States Marine, I served my country for five years, including a deployment to Iraq from January 2007 to February 2008. During my deployment, I was based at Camp Trebil on the border of Iraq and Jordan. One of my core duties involved the distribution of anti-malarial medication to refugee populations in the nearby camps. This type of work not only helped to gain trust in the eyes of the local population, but impressed upon me the truly critical nature of protecting vulnerable populations from this deadly disease.

Since my deployment ended, Iraq has successfully eliminated malaria. Our soldiers in nearby Afghanistan, however, are still faced with this daily threat. In Afghanistan, 76 percent of the population lives in areas with active malaria transmission. With more than 8,000 troops still stationed in the country, U.S. service members are faced with having to fight both insurgents and mosquitoes in their day-to-day operations. With increasing deployments of American soldiers to malaria-endemic areas, we can’t afford to turn a blind eye to this disease.

The good news is that so much progress has been made in the global fight against malaria. Thanks to strong investments led by the U.S. Government, the United Nations, and other partners, more than 6.4 million lives have been saved since 2000. We must continue to invest in this amazing progress and ensure that no one—whether they are a U.S. Marine or a child living in rural Tanzania—suffers from the debilitating impacts of this deadly disease. I play my part by advocating for this important issue through the United Nations Foundation’s Nothing But Nets campaign – a global grassroots movement to save lives from the impact of malaria. This Veterans’ Day, I invite you to join me.

On this important holiday, our representatives in Congress should consider the military advantage of continuing to robustly fund malaria control programs through the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria that protect vulnerable populations and the U.S. military personnel who serve in malaria endemic areas. This summer, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees each passed strong bills funding these organizations. Once Congress reconvenes after the election, it’s up to both chambers to send a comprehensive funding package to the President to sign into law. During this election season, let’s encourage Congress to act on something we can all agree upon: protecting our service members from deadly diseases like malaria in the areas where they are called to serve. You can take action by calling your members of Congress today and telling them that funding for the fight to defeat malaria should be a priority.

Virginia Senators:

Senator Mark Warner (D)

Senator Tim Kaine (D)

Richmond-Area Representatives:

Congressman Robert Scott (D-VA-3)

Congressman Randy Forbes (R-VA-4)

Congressman Dave Brat (R-VA-7)

Tina Vilca is a Nothing But Nets Champions Council member and resides in Spotsylvania, Virginia.