Naujienos

A Global Compaign to Fight Malaria

Fighting Malaria in Africa

Malaria Kills

In Sub-Saharan Africa, malaria is the largest single cause of death among children under the age of five, killing one child every 30 seconds, more than 800,000 per year.

Malaria has been brought under control and even eliminated in many parts of Asia, Europe and the Americas. Yet in Africa, malaria infections have actually increased over the last three decades. Malaria accounts for 40 per cent of public health expenditures. 

Nets Save

Insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) are a form of personal protection that has repeatedly been shown to reduce severe disease and mortality due to malaria in endemic regions. Indeed studies show that use of insecticide-treated bed nets can reduce transmission as much as 90% in areas with high coverage rates.

To maintain the efficacy of ITNs, the nets must be retreated at intervals of 6-12 months, more frequently if the nets are washed. Re-treatment is done by simply dipping nets in a mixture of water and insecticide and allowing the nets to dry in a shady place. Kits for retreating nets are available in most countries.

The need for frequent re-treatments is one of the most difficult barriers to full implementation of ITNs in endemic countries. The additional cost of the insecticide and the lack of understanding of its importance result in very low re-treatment rates in most African countries. Several companies have developed long-lasting ITNs that theoretically retain lethal concentrations of insecticide for the life of the net (3-5 years).

JCI Takes Action

In this context, based on the 2004 JCI Resolution to Advance the UN MDGs, JCI wants to contribute to diminish the mortality rate of children under the age of five by mobilizing its organizations in 115 countries to raise funds to purchase and distribute ITNs, as well as to conduct educational campaigns to teach families how to use the ITNs correctly. 

At present, JCI and UNF are studying countries to deliver ITNs as well as educate the population on how to use them.

In addition, JCI and UNF will soon start working on the toolkits.

The JCI-UN Affairs Commission members Benjamin Kong (Chairman, from Hong Kong), Joseph Pheto (Botswana), Aboubakar Chekarao (Niger),Moon Seok-Kyun (South Korea), Nitin Thakkar (India), Gabriela Filippini(Argentina), Scott Kingsley (USA), Christian Letsch (Germany) andTorbjorn Berglund (Sweden) have been working hard by delivering awareness to the countries assigned to them and collecting funds to the campaign. Their goal is to raise 130,000 ITNs in 2009.

www.jci.cc/nothingbutnets/

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