Winning the Fight Against Malaria in Africa

December 14, 2011

The World Health Organization (WHO) has just released this year's World Malaria Report, showing progress in the fight against malaria in Africa.

Last year, experts say, there were 216 million cases of malaria worldwide. About 81% of those were in Africa, most of them in children under five.

But progress is being made, thanks in part to organizations like our client NetsforLife®, a unique nonprofit partnership working to fight malaria in Africa.

2011 World Malaria Report - Africa

According to the report, deaths from malaria in Africa are down by more than 33% since 2000. This dramatic drop in mortality rates is due in part to better access to long-lasting insecticide treated bed nets, which protect families from deadly malaria-infested mosquito bites.

"An estimated 50% of households in Africa own at least one insecticide-treated bed net, which is up from just 3% at the beginning of the decade," reports Robert Newman, director of WHO's Global Malaria Program in a recent article. "We need to stop sometimes and remember where we were 10 years ago. It is a phenomenal improvement."

The report also finds that 96% of people who have access to a bed net actually use it.

Preventing Malaria Deaths in Africa

Since 2006, NetsforLife® has been helping to distribute nets "at the end of the road" in remote communities in sub-Saharan Africa - communities that are typically unreached by national health programs or other nonprofits.

They have trained thousands of community volunteers in Africa to distribute nets and teach their neighbors how to prevent and treat malaria.

More than 37 million people have benefited from NetsforLife® to date.