Although Zanzibar's Kataa Malaria initiative has reduced the malaria caseload on the island, misinformation about the safety of insecticide-treated bed nets - a cornerstone of the programme - has left many people exposed to the disease, which kills one million people around the world each year. In December 2005, Tanzania became one of 15 beneficiaries of a US $1.2-billion initiative to fight malaria in sub-Sahara Africa, where 90 percent of all global malaria deaths occur. United States President George W Bush's Malaria Initiative (PMI) is funded through the US Agency for International Development (USAID). As a beneficiary, Zanzibar received 240,000 long-lasting, insecticide-treated bed nets for local distribution to pregnant women and children up to age five years, the groups most vulnerable to the disease.