TMCnet News
Continent Gets U.S.$110 Million to Fight MalariaAbuja, Oct 21, 2009 (Leadership/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- Malaria Consortium, the world's leading non-profit organisation dedicated to the control and prevention of malaria, has been appointed to help implement a new USAID net distribution project worth up to $110 million across Africa. According to the World Health Organisation, about one million people die every year from malaria, mostly African children under the age of five. This is the equivalent of a child dying every 30 seconds from a disease that is both preventable and curable. Pregnant women and their unborn children are also vulnerable. Insecticide-treated nets, when properly used, provide a crucial preventative measure. This new five-year USAID project, NetWorks, will help ensure that those who are most vulnerable will not only receive nets, but will be able to depend on effective distribution systems to be able to replace them as they wear out. Malaria Consortium will lead the net distribution and operations research elements of the project, which will be managed by US-based John Hopkins University Centre for Communications Programmes (CCP). Several USAID African missions will be given the opportunity to sign up to the project for implementation in the country. "We are delighted to have won this funding with CCP, said Dr Graham Root, Managing Director of Malaria Consortium. "Our experience and understanding of the design and implementation of different net distribution systems using the public and private sectors and civil society, will help ensure this project takes hold wherever it is implemented. " NetWorks offers a unique comprehensive and dynamic approach to empower national governments and project partners to create systems which allows access, enable ownership and promote appropriate use of long-lasting insecticidal nets and other malaria prevention technologies. "The success of malaria control in Africa and its eventual elimination requires this sort of long-term approach. "It is critical that we look beyond the Roll Back Malaria deadline of 2010 and put in place distribution systems that would sustain high levels of long-lasting insecticidal net coverage and support African countries in their efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015 deadline." Partnerships and policies in each country can vary widely, and net procurement and distribution challenges frequently hamper implementation. The NetWorks project would take the unique complexity of different environments into account by emphasising the need for flexibility. Mixed distribution methods are crucial if households are to have sustained protection through net access and use. The key elements to NetWorks will include rapid analysis to fully assess the national net context, the building of stakeholders coordination, the strengthening of distribution networks, demand creation, and ongoing evaluation and operational research. |