Latest News
MOSQUITO NETS AND EDUCATION – A LETHAL FORCE AGAINST MALARIA IN UGANDA
Malaria is a preventable and curable disease, yet it infects more than 500 million people per year and kills more than one million.(1) Sadly, in Africa it is children under the age of five, living in high-risk countries, who are most likely to contract malaria.(2) On April 25, Canadian Feed The Children recognizes World Malaria Day and the importance of mosquito nets, combined with education, in the fight against this disease.
In Uganda, CFTC works with Uganda Community Based Association for Child Welfare (UCOBAC) offering insecticide-treated mosquito nets to families. Only 10 per cent of children under the age of five in Uganda sleep under treated mosquito nets.(3) The distribution of nets is important, but CFTC knows that offering education about the proper way to use the nets and how the disease is spread is the key to lowering the rate of infection among children.
UCOBAC reports that without community-based awareness and monitoring, the nets can and have been used for all kinds of purposes – one was even found sewn up into a dress for a lucky bride!
The net-plus-education approach is paying off: through CFTC’s work with UCOBAC we have seen a decrease in the number of malaria cases in the district of Bugiri, where the program is based.
1) World Health Organization (WHO)
2) WHO
3) UNICEF
