Malaria causes many deaths and serious illness throughout sub-Saharan Africa. In Kenya alone 34,000 children die each year from malaria. The disease also causes thousands of children to miss out on an education. It is carried by certain types of mosquitoes that only bite in the evening thereby infecting people with the malaria virus.
Mosquito net covered bed
Malaria is a rapidly mutating disease which has so far prevented the discovery of an effective vaccine. Treated mosquito nets (also called bed nets) are an effective defense for malaria prevention.
One facet of the “Africa Orphan Program” is a program called “Buy A Net, Save A Life” which has provided mosquito nets to the poor in villages in eastern Kenya . By providing these nets we have created a situation where orphans and other poor children have been able to continue and in some cases begin their education. To date the Program has been able to protect 26,000 people from malaria with most of those people being children and pregnant women.
The most effective nets, which are treated with a product that kills mosquito even before they reach the nets, have a life cycle of five years. As a result our program not only provides initial nets but also has begun replacing nets that were provided earlier in the Program.
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.