Here are some key facts about malaria from the WHO Africa Regional Director:
The burden of malaria is extremely heavy in the African Region which accounts for 85% of malaria cases and 90% of malaria deaths worldwide. Malaria victims are mostly children under five years of age...As a result of increased use of ITNs [insecticide-treated nets], indoor residual spraying, preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy and artemisinin-based combination therapy, ten countries in our Region were able to reduce malaria cases by at least 50% between 2000 and 2008.
Which is good news, but there's lots more to be done.
Here's what Hillary Clinton had to say about the U.S.'s role:
The United States is committed to reducing the threat of malaria worldwide through the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI)...By 2014, our goal is to cut malaria illnesses and deaths by 50 percent in most affected countries of sub-Saharan Africa.
I think this is a pretty cool video about the Malaria Vaccine Initiative. Thank you, Bill and Melinda Gates!
But you don't need to be a president or Bill Gates to combat malaria. This page gives you some suggestions on things you can do. The button at the top of this post is going to be on the blog from now on, just so's you know what that is.
We're actually making a lot of great progress. Let's see that we keep up the good work!
No comments:
Post a Comment