World Malaria Day

On April 25, 2012 NetsforLife^® commemorated the fifth annual World Malaria Day themed Sustaining the Gains; Saving Lives: Invest in Malaria. World Malaria Day is meant to remind us that a global commitment to malaria control has been made and is still essential to protecting and providing treatment for all people at risk of contracting malaria, which claims approximately 655,000 lives a year.

NetsforLife^® is working to ensure that sustainable gains on both the national and community levels of its malaria prevention approach are maintained. Through community engagement, education, and monitoring and evaluation, NetsforLife^® works in 17 malaria-endemic African countries and collaborates with international agencies, national programs and local malaria stakeholders to combat malaria by instilling a 'net culture': a community-wide understanding of the protective value of nets and the right way to use and care for them. In countries where NetsforLife^® has been active for a number of years, there is now renewed focus on maintaining people’s working knowledge of how malaria is transmitted and how it can be prevented.

The NetsforLife^® program partnership has distributed 8.5 million nets in sub-Saharan Africa and trained nearly 74,000 community volunteers. With a focus on empowering communities to prevent malaria the NetsforLife^®  strategy is working. NetsforLife^® hang up methodology, which requires volunteers to hang nets over the sleeping places of community members, has led to a 45% reduction in malaria deaths in program communities.  From net use to symptom recognition and treatment-seeking behavior, all NetsforLife^® metrics show significant progress in malaria prevention in program areas.

Still, challenges in malaria control continue as the world races to achieve universal coverage (defined as one net for every two people) and the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of reducing malaria-related deaths by 75%. While we appreciate recent accomplishments, there is much more to be done.

According to the 2011 statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO):

• 50% of households in Africa owned at least one ITN (Insecticide Treated Net)
• Malaria mortality rates have been reduced by 33% in the WHO Africa Region
• 96% of people with access to a net use it

Currently there is a huge effort to ensure that malaria nets reach those who need them the most, and recent measures indicate that progress is being made. A total of 254 million ITNs were delivered to countries in sub-Saharan Africa between 2008 and 2010 – enough to cover 66% of the 765 million people at risk. Eleven countries showed a reduction of more than 50% in either confirmed malaria cases or admissions and deaths in recent years.

However, as the WHO report points out: 

"The rapid scale-up of ITN distribution in Africa is an enormous public health achievement, but also presents a formidable challenge for the future in ensuring that coverage levels are maintained. There is uncertainty over the extent to which ITN effectiveness decays over time, but the lifespan of a longlasting insecticidal net (LLIN) is currently estimated to be 3 years. Nets delivered in 2007 and 2008 are therefore now due for replacement, soon to be followed by those delivered in 2009 and 2010."

In fact, this is exactly what we are seeing amongst our NetsforLife^® partners in Africa, and it is the challenge we face until malaria is eradicated – something that is not going to happen anytime soon.

We know from our program monitoring and evaluation that net distribution only gets you part of the way to prevention. What matters most is proper net usage, for the right people, every night.

So we have a three-fold challenge in malaria prevention:

• Ensuring universal Insecticide Treated Net coverage
• Sustained proper usage of those nets
• Net replacement after three years of use

On World Malaria Day NetsforLife^® reiterates its commitment to facing existing challenges and fighting for a future where malaria is no longer an epidemic and children, who are the most vulnerable, are safe from its path.  

For more information on program progress read NetsforLife^® : 8.5 Million Nets Distributed; Work Continues on Sustaing Gains in the Fight Against Malaria- World Malaria Day Press Release.

World Malaria Day 2010 Message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. 

Watch the Video »