World Malaria Day 2009: NetsforLife® Phase 2 to Distribute 7Million Mosquito Nets to Africa

World Malaria Day 2009: NetsforLife® Phase 2
Over 30, 000 Strong to Distribute Seven Million Mosquito Nets to Africa

NetsforLife® (netsforlifeafrica.org) brings together corporations, foundations, faith-based organizations and private donors in a collaborative initiative focused on eliminating malaria in Africa. NetsforLife® has embarked on its second phase – an initiative to mobilize over 30,000 volunteers and distribute up to 7 million mosquito nets to 17 countries in sub-Sahara Africa over the next five years. NetsforLife® will reaffirm this pledge at the One World Against Malaria Summit hosted by the U.N. Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Malaria and the Center for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty in Washington D.C. this week to mark World Malaria Day, April 25th.

Malaria is one of the biggest killers in the developing world, with a staggering economic human and economic cost. Transmitted through infected mosquitoes, malaria:

• Infects 300 to 500 million people every year
• Kills one million a year, the majority children under five
• 3,000 children die a day from malaria
• 90% of all malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa
• Estimated to cost $12 billion in lost productivity in Africa

The distribution of one insecticide-treated net can save three people from malaria. Seven million nets can save 21 million from illness and death. When insecticide-treated nets are properly used by three-quarters of the community, malaria transmission is cut by 50%, child deaths by 20%, and the mosquito population drops by as much as 90%.

The Phase 2 initiative will be the largest distribution of nets yet by NetsforLife® and an unprecedented commitment towards eliminating malaria. “NetsforLife® is pleased to be one of the key organizations helping to educate and save lives from malaria,” says Shaun Walsh, Executive Director, NetsforLife®. "Education efforts have helped to raise knowledge about malaria transmission from 50% to 82% in sub-Saharan Africa in NetsforLife® communities. Over 11 million people have benefited to date from distribution of the nets. We are now looking forward to reaching even more of those, especially children, most vulnerable to malaria."

NetsforLife® works with partners to eliminate malaria by distributing insecticide-treated nets and educating local communities in the hardest to reach areas in Africa. NetsforLife® works with community leaders to create a “net culture”- an understanding of the value of nets and the correct way to use and maintain them. Programs provide access to testing and treatment. NetsforLife® provides long-lasting insecticide-treated nets approved by the World Health Organization.

“Before NetsforLife® came to this area, community members used to wake me up in the middle of the night at least four times every month to baptize and anoint a sick child—only to bury him or her the next day. Since the program started, such midnight calls have ceased … NetsforLife® is saving lives” said Fr. James Okwonga, Mugarus ya Parish, Uganda.

Standard Chartered Bank, a corporate sponsor of NetsforLife® , have led the way into Phase 2 by committing to an additional five years of support. Other sponsors include ExxonMobil Foundation, Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, the private Starr International Foundation, White Flowers Foundation, and NGO partner Episcopal Relief & Development. Supported by these organizations, NetsforLife® implements integrated malaria prevention programming in 17 malaria endemic countries in Sub-Saharan Africa through a vibrant network of local churches, faith-based organizations and NGOs.

Contact: Devon Wallace
4/21/2009 (800) 334-7626, ext. 6311
info@nestforlifeafrica.org