Great news during this season of giving out of Tanzania. World Vision is giving village leaders in Tanzania bicycles to help in efforts to provide care for mothers and children under five.
An international organization, World Vision, under it’s ENHANCE project has donated 300 bicycles to Korogwe Municipal council to support food provision for under five children and pregnant mothers.
Speaking during the handing over ceremony yesterday, Acting Manager for ENHANCE project Anna Temba said that World Vision has been supporting several departments in the district especially the health sector.
She said that under the project a total of 1,000 bicycles have been purchased whereby 300 will be mainly for provision of food to the under-fives and pregnant mothers.
He said the bicycles will be given to village executive officers in Magoma, Bungu and Mombo wards while the remaining 700 bicycles will be given to local leaders in Handeni, Kilindi, Muheza, Mvomero, Kinondoni and Morogoro district.
Pasted below is the text of a press release about the 2009 World Malaria Report.
WHO World Malaria Report Shows Aid Efforts Are Working
Key interventions results mortality reductions, disease prevalence; more funding needed for continued success
WASHINGTON, DC – Considerable progress has been in fighting malaria over the past several years, according to the World Health Organization’s World Malaria Report 2009 released earlier this week. The report, which was gathered from data across malaria programs in 108 countries, shows that more than a third of the effected countries surveyed witnessed reductions in malaria cases by more than 50 percent between 2000 and 2008.
These improvements are attributed to a vast increase in international funding for malaria between 2006 and 2009, which more than doubled from $730 million to $1.7 billion. However, malaria advocates in Washington cautioned that unless funding increases, programs will fall well short of reaching 2010 targets for universal coverage with insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and 2015’s United Nations Millennium Development Goals. According to the Global Malaria Action Plan, $6.2 billion is needed in 2010 to fully fund the package of malaria interventions to meet the Roll Back Malaria goal of saving the lives of mothers and children.
“Malaria is one of the best investments we have in global health,” said Rear Admiral Tim Ziemer, the U.S. Malaria Coordinator. “We must build on successes we have seen in places like Rwanda, Zambia and Zanzibar, where effective partnership and proven tools like insecticide-treated mosquito nets, spraying of homes with safe, effective insecticides and malaria diagnosis and treatment worked together to dramatically reduce deaths and illness. And as we continue to make progress in the fight against malaria, we make important gains toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals related to poverty reduction, child survival, maternal health and reducing malaria deaths.”
Bolstered by the new data from WHO, malaria advocates in the U.S. have requested $924 million for bilateral malaria funding; $200 million for research, development and technical assistance; and $1.75 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for FY11. Advocates also applauded the ongoing commitment of the Administration and Congress to expand malaria programming, demonstrated by the recent House and Senate vote to approve $585 million for bi-lateral assistance for malaria and an additional 1.05 billion dollars for the Global Fund.
The United States remains a global leader in the fight against malaria. In a single year, the President’s Malaria Initiative reached 32 million people with lifesaving prevention or treatment services, while direct funding from the U.S. has helped the Global Fund distribute 88 million bed nets to protect families and provide treatment to 74 million individuals.
Sen. Bill Frist authored an article in Roll Call today. Sen. Frist discussed the future of USAID and pointed out that U.S. efforts to fight poverty and improve health worldwide are at a critical juncture.
He cited three key reasons as to why this point in time is so critical.
“First, successful outcomes to our most pressing national security challenges, including the war in Afghanistan and instability in Pakistan, depend just as much on our ability to provide health services and economic opportunity to struggling people as on our combat operations or diplomatic efforts. Both President Barack Obama’s new Afghanistan strategy and the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Pakistan aid package make substantial new commitments based on this idea.
Second, the global fights against HIV/AIDS and other deadly diseases have reached a turning point. U.S.-led programs such as former President George W. Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, have helped poor families and communities move from a moment of crisis toward a moment of opportunity. We need to work twice as hard to maintain and build on this progress.
Third, the Obama administration and bipartisan Congressional leaders are in the midst of a transformative debate about how to make U.S. foreign assistance more effective and accountable. The unprecedented momentum in this debate is on the side of those who believe we need a new development strategy and a more efficient foreign assistance system that produces greater returns for recipients and taxpayers alike. ”
Investing in global health has produced dividends over the past few years. More people are being treated for AIDS, Malaria cases and deaths are down across Africa and countless treatments are more readily available. Sen. Frist’s point that we need to build on previous success is key. There has been so much done, but so much left to do.
Maternal health remains a great concern in the global health community today. In the developing world, one of the most dangerous professions is that of motherhood. Roughly 500,000 women die annually in the developing world due to complications of pregnancy and other conditions.
Malaria during pregnancy is a serious problem in sub-Saharan Africa, affecting an estimated 24 million pregnant women; malaria prevalence may exceed 50% among first and second time mothers. Pregnant women are especially vulnerable to the affects of malaria because their immune systems are depressed by the pregnancy. The result is that their developed immunities are less able to mitigate the effects of the malaria parasite.
As a result, the World Health Organization recommends that pregnant women recieve 2 does of Intermittant Preventative Treatment (IPT). IPT treatments protect both woman and child from the adverse affects of malaria. Coupled with insecticide treated bednets, IPT treatments have been demonstrated to protect pregnant women.
Indeed, the use of bednets alone has been tied to nearly 40% reductions in the incidence of the malaria parasite, an almost 50% drop in malarial anemia, and a 30% reduction in the prevalence of low birth weight.
The World Malaria Report showed evidence (albeit with somewhat incomplete data) that IPT treatments had increased from 18% in 2006 to 20% in 2008. Coupled with this slight uptick was the adoption of 2 IPT treatments as official policy in thirty-three African countries. Additionally, in 13 of the 35 high burden countries, bednet ownership per hosuehold reached greater than 50%.
So what does this mean? Simply, there is reason to be cautiously optimistic about the future of maternal health in regards to malaria. More women are receving IPT treatments during pregnancy and have access to a bednet to sleep under. However, the report also demonstrates the need for great coverage and availability of malaria resources. We are in the middle of a long struggle against malaria. The world’s efforts to fight back against the disease began in earnest within the last decade and we must persist until the completion of that battle. If we do, we can protect pregnant women and their unborn children.
ONE and Malaria No More are launching an exciting new program to create power advocates for malaria; The Malaria Griots Program. Reposted below is ONE’s blog on the program.
In West Africa, a Griot is a storyteller, a singer, a history keeper and an agent of cultural change. Echoing this tradition, ONE and Malaria No More are excited to announce the launch of Malaria Griots, a program designed to train passionate volunteers into powerful spokespersons in the fight against malaria.
What does it mean to become a Malaria Griot?
Selected Malaria Griots will kick-off their experience with an online course exclusively designed with Elliott Masie, the chair of the Learning CONSORTIUM and an early pioneer in distance learning and e-Learning. This five month, in-depth course—which will be housed on Blackboard Inc.’s online learning ProSitesTM platform—will include live discussions with leading malaria experts, access to cutting-edge articles, and the opportunity to participate in current malaria campaigns. As one of the inaugural students in the Malaria Griots program, you will witness stories of Africans fighting to overcome the disease, work with engaging multimedia content, and ultimately become a leading advocate in the fight against malaria.
Through this interactive course, ONE and Malaria No More will equip you with the tools to be a local advocate in your community, a spokesperson for the media, an engaging presenter at neighborhood church basement meetings and an educator to everyone you meet. We need more Griots working to change lives and help rid the world of disease. This is your opportunity to be a part of the story and to truly make a difference.
What You’ll Do
Successfully complete five month, intensive education course for Griot program
Develop a 12-month outreach and activity plan
Speak at public events about malaria and the work to eradicate the disease
Interact with local media, political leaders and their staffs
Participate in ongoing information sessions via conference call, video chat or in person
Recruit volunteers and other advocates for the malaria cause
What We’re Looking For
Public speaking experience
Ability to learn and navigate new technology; access to computer with audio/video capabilities
Willingness to learn
Persuasive communication skills
Time and travel flexibility within a state or region
Interest in global health and advocacy
Civic interest and understanding
What You’ll Walk Away With
One of the very first students of the Malaria Griot course, a pioneer!
Ability to interact with and learn from leading malaria experts
Unbelievable access to articles, videos, engaging online content
Opportunity to serve as a community leader on life-saving global issue
Opportunity to truly help put an end to malaria worldwide
You can find the application form here. Completed forms should be emailed to griot@one.org by January 22.
ExxonMobil has contributed $3.5 million dollars to help fight malaria and educate women in Angola. The ten grants, provided by the ExxonMobil Foundation, are aimed at combating malaria and expanding educational opportunities for women. The grants will be disbursed in partnership with national and international non-governmental organizations.
The anti-malaria grants will support programs that help two of the most vulnerable groups: women and children less than five years of age. The programs include training and education on prevention and treatment, the provision of insecticide treated bed nets and other medical resources, and access to health facilities.
The contributions of private industry and multi-national corporations like ExxonMobile should be recognized and appreciated. Malaria presents a historic challange and the response needs to be both public and private, secular and religious, present and future.
The World Health Organization released its 2009 World Malaria Report yesterday. The Report is a summation of data results in 2008 in the fight against malaria. The Malaria Policy Center will be taking a look at some of the results, by area, over the next few days. In general, there is much to celebrate in the Report. With the scale up in funding over the past few years more households own a bednet, more children are being treated with the proper medication and less people are suffering and dying from malaria. But there are still great challenges that lay ahead.
Today, the Policy Center is examining the effects of investing in malaria on child health. Malaria is a unrelenting killer of children. In Africa, malaria accounts for 16% of all deaths among children under five. This translates to between 700,000 and 800,000 deaths per year. Malaria disproportionately affects young children because they have not developed an immunity to the parasite at that juncture in their young lives. A newborn starts being vulnerable to malaria at four months of age when the maternal immunity to diseases diminishes. Children infected with the parasite will then start getting two to five malarial fevers every year.
For these dire reasons, funding for malaria preventions, especially for children, has been emphasized. Recent interventions in malaria have not only protected children from malaria, but helped drive all-cause mortality among children down. Large decreases in malaria cases and deaths have been mirrored by steep declines in all-cause deaths among children under the age of 5. In Zambia, all cause child mortality rates fell by 35% during the same period that corresponding malaria infection rates fell. Evidence from Sao Tome and Principe as well as Zanzibar is also producing similar results.
These strong correlations demonstrate that continued investment in malaria can help African countries achieve the Millennium Development goal of reducing child mortality two-thirds by 2015. In fact, addressing child health cannot be done without addressing malaria and the results of the 2009 World Malaria Report demonstrate the success the global health community has already achieved.
The World Health Organization (WHO) released the 2009 World Malaria Report yesterday. To help promote the report and its positive findings, the Congressional Malaria Caucus held a briefing in conjunction with the U.N. Foundation and Malaria No More. Admiral Tim Ziemer, U.S. Malaria Coordinator, Mark Green, Managing Director of the Malaria Policy Center and Dr. Daniel Caruccia, Vice President of Global Health at the U.N. Foundation all spoke on the results of the World Malaria Report. The briefing was highlighted by Congressman Donald Payne who gave comments on the importance of fighting malaria and the challenges that lay ahead.
Dr. Carucci from the U.N. Foundation
As for the substance of the report itself, one of the most promising results was the tremendous effects investing malaria is having on the well being of children under five. Large decreases in malaria cases and deaths have been mirrored by steep declines in all-cause deaths among children under the age of 5. In Zambia, all cause child mortality rates fell by 35% during the same period that corresponding malaria infection rates fell.
Admiral Ziemer and Mark Green
But the 2009 World Malaria Report also demonstrates we have a long way to go. There are still countless numbers of people suffering and dying from malaria—a tragedy that is completely preventable with low-cost interventions. The need for continued funding is great as continued expansion into the largest, malaria-endemic countries.
The crux of the 2009 World Malaria Report is that we are in a tough fight. We are in the middle stages of a long bout with a disease that has plagued mankind since the beginning of recorded history. These results demonstrate progress, but we cannot mistake progress with ultimate success. The world must resolve itself to stay the course so that in just a few short years—by the end of 2015—we can achieve the first great humanitarian victory of this century, an end to malaria deaths. With leadership like that of Congressman Payne, Admiral Ziemer, the U.N. Foundation and others, we can make this goal a reality.
A Conference Committee made up of members from both the Senate and House of Representatives has issued its report on appropriations for State and Foreign Operations this past Thursday. The resulting vote on the committee report passed the House of Representatives Thursday night and the Senate over the weekend.
The funding levels for Global Health at large and malaria in particular, have been announced. $585 million was appropriated for bi-lateral assistance for malaria. An additional 1.05 billion dollars was appropriated for the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Full details on funding can be found below.
Appropriations bills for malaria and other global health issues were passed in both the Senate and the House of Representatives earlier this year, but the levels of funding were at different numbers in each version passed. As a result, these differences were resolved in a Conference Committee composed of members of both the House and the Senate.
The Malaria Policy Center applauds both President Obama and Congress’s leadership on malaria. Their support for malaria funding demonstrates the United State’s commitment to saving lives across the globe from a preventable disease. Indeed, the decision of Congress and President Obama to fund bi-lateral malaria assistance shows how serious they are in protecting some of the world’s most vulnerable people from the devastation of malaria.
While the Malaria No More team is hard at work in this busy end-of-year season, we want to take a quick moment to wish you happy holidays! There will be lots to do in the coming year, from funding of malaria programs to raising awareness at home and in Africa. But as we work together, we can see a day when malaria is no more.
