April 25th is World Malaria Day
"Every 30 seconds a child under 5 dies from malaria in Africa alone! Join ICMRT to reduce this mortality rate and the loss of productivity in adults caused by malaria in Ivory Coast!"
Alain Adjorlolo, President ICMRT
April 2008
April
25th is World Malaria Day; a day set aside by the World Health
Organization to offer “an opportunity for malaria-free countries to
learn about the devastating consequences of the disease and for new
donors to join a global partnership against malaria.” It's fitting
that this month 5,000 long lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets
(LLINs) purchased by ICMRT are being released by the port authority
in Ivory Coast for free distribution to pregnant women and children
under 5 years of age.
Malaria is caused by a parasite transmitted to humans through the
bite of an infected mosquito. The World Health
Organization-recommended LLINs, whose insecticidal effects can last
5 years, are highly effective against the mosquitoes that transmit
malaria. The purchase of these nets was made possible, thanks to the
great generosity of ICMRT’s donors and their belief in our
collective power to affect change. These nets will be used during a
2-year partnership program with two organizations located in
Abidjan, to reduce pregnancy complications and mortality among
children under 5 from malaria.
As a child growing
up in the 60’s in the Ivory Coast, my parents, like many others,
took it for granted that 1 to 6 times a year they and their children
would contract malaria, a disease transmitted by a parasite-carrying
mosquito. However, thanks to chloroquine, we would recover and move
on with our lives.
Today’s malaria is increasingly caused by chloroquine-resistant parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, which causes the death of 63,000 children under the age of 5, and 27,000 under the age of one in the Ivory Coast each year. a country of about 18 million inhabitants. The overall absenteeism caused by malaria among school age children and adults and economic losses have also been identified as a major obstacle to economic development.
The fight against
malaria has been identified as one of the United Nation's millennium
development goals and has recently received much needed visibility
and support globally.
We Are Focusing on the Solutions!
Effective malaria control leads to dramatic declines in malaria
death rates.
Prompt and effective treatment of suspected malaria fever can
significantly reduce malaria death.
The wider use of insecticide-treated bednets may reduce episodes of
illness by more than 50 percent in areas of high transmission.
The free
distribution of LLINs to pregnant
women and children under 5, and eventual expansion to the entire
population, is widely recognized as an essential part of this fight.
ICMRT’s modest program using long lasting nets is therefore a first
in the Ivory Coast, where the population is still living with the
consequences of a brutal civil war which destroyed the health care
infrastructure and set back the national health program.
The challenge is immense; but so is the opportunity to make a groundbreaking impact in reducing malaria-caused mortality in small localities at a cost of only $10.00 per net. Malaria Day should be a day of “determination and optimism”. We are very excited to be on this journey and encourage you to continue with your support of our program.
Learn more about ICMRT Malaria program
Malaria Prevention and Treatment in Ivory Coast
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