Nearly at the end of this morning's press conference in Mali announcing the launch of the national integrated health campaign, a representative from WHO noted a possible loss in translation. Admiral Ziemer, who leads the President's Malaria Initiative, was seated beside him. The WHO representative noted that, as Mali is landlocked, they didn't use the word "Admiral." He helped the audience out: it's basically the same as "General." His quip reinforced the logistical difficulties of this campaign, in that it is being carried out in a landlocked nation the size of California and Texas

All five health interventions (the long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets that Nothing But Nets helps provide, the Vitamin A, the deworming medicine, and the polio and measles vaccines) all require special treatment. As Steve Lutterbeck from PSI explained at a briefing earlier today, the bed nets alone fill 50 40-foot containers, the contents of which must be the distributed to 50 medical centers and 1000 distribution points throughout Mali. The vaccines must be kept cold and, even so, can only be away from true refrigeration for three days. Mali is the size of California and Texas combined, and some of the distribution points are beyond Tombouctou.

The Admiral himself cut an impressive line. He spoke earnestly and concisely about the importance of the campaign: "This is literally the most important thing going on in the world at this moment." Whether you agree or not, it certainly puts some things in perspective and makes one wonder why there isn't greater awareness in places like the U.S. This is the main reason Nothing But Nets is here. We're taking partners and spokespeople from the United Methodist Church, the WNBA (superstar Ruth Riley), ExxonMobil, and MLS (superstars Dwayne DeRosario and Diego Guttierez) out into the field to get some context. We'll all be reporting back.

I have arrived in Bamako, Mali, after a grueling 36 hours in transit. On the way over, I read a series of stories about the series of explorers that the British African Association sent to find the Niger and the fabled Tombouctou. One after another succumbed to disease, the desert, and hostile locals. In fact, it was a Frenchman, Rene Caillie, who finally reached Tombouctou in 1828 after living a year as a Muslim ascetic among the Braknas nomads so that he might appear to be a local, being denied a spot on official expeditions, casting away on a slave ship, and suffering malaria, nearly mortal sores on his feet, and scurvy.

Now I am sitting here in my hotel on the Niger with satellite TV, a swimming pool, and hopefully a comfortable bed. The taming of nature that has occurred in the last 200 years is remarkable, but, as I'm sure I am about to see, it is far from complete. Over the next week, I'll be on the ground here in Mali observing an integrated health campaign that will deliver insecticide-treated bed nets, measles and polio vaccines, Vitamin A, and deworming pills to 2.8 million children who desperately need it across this sprawling, land-locked country, which is the size of California and Texas. I'll keep you all updated on the progress.