Malaria Day - Protect a child's life
19/04/2010
Malaria is the leading cause of death in Zambia for children under five. The same is true for children living in Uganda.
“The international malaria community has less than a year to meet the 2010 targets of delivering effective and affordable protection and treatment to all people at risk of malaria, as called for by the U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon,” according to Roll Back Malaria partnership.
And there’s a lot of work to be done.
Malaria is a mosquito-transmitted disease that can be treated and prevented. ChildFund works with children and their families to educate them on prevention and awareness.
We teach families to recognise the symptoms of and prevent the spread of malaria through treated bed nets and residual spraying of their houses.
“Before the spraying, I used to think about sleeping outside (in the backyard) because of those ticks, mosquitoes and other insects [inside]. They didn't allow me to sleep,” says Caroline Mwanza, a mother in Angola whose house was sprayed to protect her family from malaria.
“We are now free from mosquitoes. If this programme continues, a lot of diseases can be avoided.”
As we mark World Malaria Day on April 25, you can help ChildFund protect children and pregnant women from malaria by purchasing a treated mosquito net for just $22 through ChildFund’s Gifts that Grow Catalogue.
